NSW Mountain Bikers: A Neglected Constituency?

Hi Moutain Bike People,

My name is Jon Jenkins and I am an indpendent NSW MP. The people I represent are those who use public land for recreation. People such as fishermen, horse riders, campers etc. The other day I met with a group of cyclists from Port Macquarie who have been banned from one of their favourite rides in the local National Park. After some research I discovered that cyclists are one of the unheard group of people who use National Parks and also one of the groups on the "hit list".

As many of you will know there has been some major changes to Koz NP which will see cyclists excluded from much of the park. This is a "test case" to see how far they can go. Further the sale of State Forests in NSW has almost been completed and the privatisation of the land may also impact on where you can ride.

If I can help in any way please contact me jon@trac.org.au.

And yes I do ride: I have a custom made chrome molly made by Blackwells (has to be strong as I am 105kg!) which is currently being repaired after I broke a crank!

__________________
Dr Jon Jenkins MLC
Parliament House
Sydney NSW 200
Ph: 02-9230-2752

Banning bicycles from NPs? Sounds pretty darn stupid to me, how about we ban any vehicle using a petrol or diesel engine first!

Exactly what are they being banned from? Walking tracks? Mangement vehicles only tracks? The whole parks?

Hi

>Banning bicycles from NPs? Sounds pretty darn stupid to
>me, how about we ban any vehicle using a petrol or diesel
>engine first!

Well they already are! However bikes have generally not been allowed in Wilderness areas since inception. There are some exceptions for specified trails. However if you have a look at the PoM for Koz you will also see that they have been now been banned from a lot of other areas as well. Your body has put in a strongly worded submission to the NPWS as have I (www.trac.org.au/files/KNP_Response.pdf). You can read for yourself the new cycling rules here (www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/KosciuszkoNP_mgmtplan_draftcc)

As I mentioned the reason this started was a group of cyclists at Port and led on from there.

>Exactly what are they being banned from? Walking
>tracks? Mangement vehicles only tracks? The whole
>parks?

Yes to first two and some to the third!

I quote from the PoM:

"The current policy of permitting cycling on all managemment trails within the declared Wilderness in the park is inconsistent with the statewide service policy."

This is only the start, just as other users (first 4WDs and then horses) have been progressively banned it now looks llike cyclists are next. In particular the downhillers are first on the list.

Personally I would be as much or more concerned about State Forests becoming private property. Unlike National Parks where the decision will be reversed once people realise the eco fundamenalists have no idea how to look after the environment, once State Forests are gone the decision can NEVER be reversed.

Jon

__________________
Dr Jon Jenkins MLC
Parliament House
Sydney NSW 200
Ph: 02-9230-2752

I can see their logic (the fewer people use it, the more conserved it will be!). However I think they should be working on encouraging cyclists - how much environmental damage does a bicycle really do?

I also agree with you on the state forests issue - cyclists are going to destroy Kosciuszko, but State Forests will be Just Fine with significant logging activity? Hell, in Gippsland you have heaps of logging in the Erinnundra Wilderness - and don't get me started on tassie. If only they could be consistent...

Just wait until bikes have to be registered....something that appears to be on the RTA backburner from time to time and pushed by anti cyclist car owners.
I'm sure it will happen soon, but some greedy mountain biker is going to have an accident somewhere and sue the relevant council. Another excuse to restrict where we can ride. In the future, the only legal mountain biking will be as part of a tour with an approved organsition (who of course has paid the necessary fee for approval). The area to be ridden in will have had to have an envronmental impact statement made prior to being ridden in of course.
Basically, the aim is to ensure that the only socially acceptable transportation will be by petrol consuming cars (good for Johnny Howard's "economy" you know...and as we've seen with the election, Australians have decided that money is more important than anything else). Any physical activity is to be severely discouraged in case of litigation. Riding a bike could be seen as "removing profits" from the petrol and road construction industry...the M2 was a good example of this where a certain amount of traffic flow had to be guaranteed by the NSW govt.
Living in the Blue Mountains one can see the hypocrisy quite clearly.
With the RTA encouraged to destroy all the historic buildings in Lawson as its 4 lane highway of destruction snakes westward, let alone the mess they made of the bush at Mt Vic, we find that certain individuals are now wanting to close some of the fire trails. Groups of more than eight people are not even allowed into the "Wilderness Area". And that bike track that was meant to follow the train line...the council simply couldn't be bothered. Meanwhile more bush gets mowed down for yet another block of flats.
I see the state forests around Oberon are likely to be sold to private foreign interests too. Come to think of it will there be any public land in years to come? I mean the government can sell it off to developers who want to stick blocks of flats all over it and make a fortune.
The idea of just going out for a ride down the local fire trails isn't going to be with us forever.