In the ordinary meeting today recommendations to have the trails on Mounta Gibraltar used by mountain bikers be assessed for impact by the unauthorised trails were passed. Following the ordinary meeting on 21 June where Council's next steps were outlined for the trails on Mt Gibraltar, legal advice and assessments have been conducted and relevant signage promptly installed commensurate with the findings.
The legality issues have been mentioned and discussed at length with regards to safety, conservation and current rules and Council has taken action to deal with these in a way that is in line with the pragmatic approach decided on at last month's meeting.
While there has been mention of examples in other localities where successful solutions to the environment/mountain biking coexistence which are excellent models to take into consideration and use for planning purposes, it is almost certain that these would have been a result of the similar processes which Council are currently undertaking.
Council continues to take a collaborative approach with the community to come to a suitable arrangement whereby hopefully both sides are satisfied or at least the best decision is made following due process.
Since 22 May, a series of steps have been taken in regard to the management of the trails. The first step was a meeting with young riders on May 22nd. From May 25th to June 8th, a mountain biking and bushland survey was conducted.
On June 21st, a council report was presented to determine management actions. This included preparing a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) on the trails to determine if they have a significant impact and installing warning signage for the interim period of three months, subject to legal advice. Following this, legal advice was sought and legal advisers recommended that the council had a duty of care to warn and/or prevent access commensurate with the risk present.
Iconic Trails was then engaged to complete a risk audit. On July 7th, Iconic Trails submitted its risk assessment of the trails and subsequently on July 14th, written legal advice was received confirming the requirement for signage and actions arising from the Iconic Trails audit. It was determined that general risk signage needs to be installed, but also actions need to be taken to ensure the trail aligns with guidelines.
For two of the side trails, this was not possible without extending/modifying the trails, which isn't an option whilst the trails are still under review. As a result it was determined that access needs to be closed until the outcome of the REF is known. On July 14th, the signage design was submitted to Highlands Printing and on July 18th, the signs were printed and installed.
Now that suitable signage is in place, the environmental consultants will be engaged, and their findings presented to Council on 20 September to determine if the trails do have any major environmental impact which will determine next steps.
Council continues to take a collaborative approach with the community to come to a suitable arrangement whereby hopefully both sides of the argument are satisfied or at least the best decision is made based on consultation and facts.
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