Bonogin (smith road) downhill track - closed permanently

frenchman

frenchman

Eats cheese. Sells crack.
Daisy69 said:
i think ryda is doing a top job, if only brissy council could see what mt buller is doing and becoming, due to hard work and well planned tracks. if something is to happen, maybe we need to follow the same sort of plan as Mr glen Jacobs.
say a track is a meter wide (average) we need to "give back" that land in other ways IE: re plant an shut down of UN used "access tracks, so say on average a dis used road in the bush is 2 meters wide. maybe more maybe less. it goes for 2 km. that equals 4 km of track, obviously that is not the easy part, nor cheap but if mt buller works on that basic concept, and buller would have been harder to swing being national alpine area, and clearly its working, maybe we should be discussing this with our council.
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Unfortunately as long as Newman is in power legal trails will never happen. The Bulimba creek catchment group currently tickles his nutsack. As mentioned previously, a couple of forum users were part of DAG (downhill action group) met with Newman were told that he didn't want to see Downhill in Brisbane.

Glen did a fantastic job building a track out at gap creek that for the amount of traffic it's receiving is still holding up very well. This track was put in on the basis (like you had mentioned) to "give back" in return for putting a trail in. But as with any dealings with the BCC there was a lot more 'giving back' in return for a trail.

normdouglas said:
A very interesting thread. Here in Forrest we have battled for 3 years to allow volunteers to maintain existing Government built trails. This has been a mammoth task, but we are now there. The model we have used is a "repeatable" and "sustainable" one.
NOT one built on a relationship with a particular ranger, but rather working within the confines of legislation and requirements of the department.
This we would hope is the basis for future such relationships.

I don't know much... but what I do know is that we all want sustainable trails... building "illegal" trails is NOT sustainable... period.

Norm Douglas
VIC rep MTBA
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These government built trails, are they Downhill runs or just a network of xc trails?

Norm unfortunately every avenue of negotiation has been exhausted. There are threads on this site from 2003-4 attempting to deal with the conflicts at Mt Cootha. The confines of legislation would not allow us to legally construct any matter of downhill trails as long as Newman is in power with the various catchment / environmentalists / mtb gestapo keeping him there.

You say building illegal trails is not sustainable.

But having no trails is what exactly?
 
Oppy

Oppy

Likes Dirt
No downhillers ever met with Newman.

Thanks for the compliment about the trail. The rationalisation of trails was always part of the agreement to get sanctioned trails. Because of the lack of follow through by downhillers they nothing. If you want to change the outcome you have to be part of the process. You are not going to change the system so you can either change what you are doing and get a different outcome or you can keep doing nothing and getting nothing.
 
frenchman

frenchman

Eats cheese. Sells crack.
Sorry my mistake,
'had been in contact with Newman' would have been more accurate.

~3-4 years ago
A bunch of us were involved in a Downhill Access Group a few years ago, but Cambell Newham told us point blank that he didn't want to see downhill in Brisbane. Arguing against the well-funded (and BCC-sponsored) Bulimba Creek Catchment Group, who are very anti-mountain bike was practically futile.
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I'm quite happy with the current outcome Chris.

I still have trails to ride and due to the lack of traffic they stay fresher for longer :)
 
D

Daisy69

Likes Bikes
no more newman

i just think they are all evil and would not re instate any "illegal" dh track unless something was in it for them, unlike say motocross or a paved bike way where alot of people will be using this, dh tracks only really caters for us.
add to that the recent floods, an mt Joyce, i dont think we will see a actual DH track "built" for a long time. what i dont understand is they are trying to build a sustainable Eco system for the truck loads of people, i will put money on it they will build more golf courses and rugby grounds before the even look at putting land aside (where they couldn't build anything anyhow).and in saying that, golf courses destroy more vegetation than anything, sure its green as f*ck but those fairways weren't there since the beginning of time.
i would be quiet happy to voice my opinion to bcc, but numbers "voters" is where its all at. maybe a ride or somewhat a "demonstration" into the city thru the streets, dh bikes, riders, free riders, anyone who would like to see bcc help us help them legalize the tracks that are left and to discuss how and what can be done in the future to encourage young people into a healthy and active sport that is only going to get bigger.
 
Deadman

Deadman

Likes Dirt
How many would turn out?

If we were to have a rally of some sort, to show how many DHers are in SE Qld - how many shuttle vehicles loaded with bikes (say 2-3 bikes and riders per vehicle) would turn out?

And the big question is - how can anyone guarantee a substantial turn out once a rally is organised?

I believe it will be a bit like trail building days - most have other 'more important' things on and can't make it!

XC have the numbers, but do we (DHers) have the numbers??

Dave
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Oppy said:
No downhillers ever met with Newman
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Eh? I know two reps from DAG had a 10 minute appointement with the mayor. Did that never eventuate?

Either way, one of his underlings signed the 'get fucked' response letter I received when we lodged our petition back in the day.

I'm not familiar enough with the inner workings of council policy to argue. Illegal DH tracks are ultimately going to be better in many ways than anything the council would ever approve of, albeit with the constant frustration of having weeks of work go up in smoke when they're found and shut down. Maybe when there's a changing of the guard in the BCC we'll have a chance but until then - man the shovels lads.
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Deadman said:
If we were to have a rally of some sort, to show how many DHers are in SE Qld - how many shuttle vehicles loaded with bikes (say 2-3 bikes and riders per vehicle) would turn out?

And the big question is - how can anyone guarantee a substantial turn out once a rally is organised?

I believe it will be a bit like trail building days - most have other 'more important' things on and can't make it!

XC have the numbers, but do we (DHers) have the numbers??

Dave
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Honestly, organising DHers is like herding cats. I know we have the numbers, and the short term drive to make a point, but I'm not confident that DHers have the stamina and drive to push through the mountain of bullshit I've seen thrown at attempts to gain trail access.
 
wertmewert

wertmewert

Likes Dirt
Just somthing to be mindful of.... if we are trying to get legal trails and have to go through member of parliament etc like Campbel then maybe if things havn't gone well in the past we don't be so blank about it and say that bader things about it, rather say them in a nicer way and we can all imagine some more creative language ourselves as im sure if they saw it they wouldn't give us one chance.
 
Reece.

Reece.

Likes Dirt
wertmewert said:
Just somthing to be mindful of.... if we are trying to get legal trails and have to go through member of parliament etc like Campbel then maybe if things havn't gone well in the past we don't be so blank about it and say that bader things about it, rather say them in a nicer way and we can all imagine some more creative language ourselves as im sure if they saw it they wouldn't give us one chance.
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Huh??????????
 
Ridenparadise

Ridenparadise

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I received an invite to go and inspect the new "Old Tambo" trail today, but I am stuck at work. Council has changed its attitude on the Gold Coas in the last 2 yearst with Tambo now becoming legal, good prospects for The Outlook going the same way, plus there are the XC developments at Hinze Dam and Nerang. Site inspections and surveys for the Commonwealth Games track should commence soon after New Year as well, so 2014 may just be a big year for GC riders.
 
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