Derby in Tassi

Stredda said:
I was in Derby on the weekend and the owner of this place still hasn't done anything with it. Seems a bit of a waste of 1.3 million to me. 🤔
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Especially since you go down the road and pick up a place at Branxholm for around $300K. I think Pioneer has a certain unique charm pick up some thing there even cheaper.
 
Stredda said:
I do wonder how sustainable the whole MTB growth in big trails networks is. Can't build new trails forever, there's got to be a saturation point to where there's not enough riders to make them viable.
I feel that in Tassie, we are kind of there now. I think there needs to be more focus on small, local trail networks, close to where people live. Every town should have a riding area. Doesn't need to be huge, just 5 to 10km of trail. This is where grass roots mountain biking will bloom, and these are the future MTB tourists. Places like Derby and Maydena don't actually have a local scene, it is the place you go after you are already hooked.
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Well one year on and ....... I ran into a bloke from the ACT out riding at Tippo Hills before Xmas. He was having a ride all Tassie MTB areas. He Told me there was alot of new riding areas opening up on the NSW south coast and they are good. I had a look and Victoria also has new riding areas or they have put money into old MTB parks. I see alot of Tassie trail builders are doing the trails. I think Simon French took over and fixed up MTB park in Victoria ( Bright I think) Wollongong just South of Sydney is in the process of building new MTB trails up on the escarpment. If done right they are going to be real good.

So yeah Stredda alot more competition now.
 
Admittedly, I haven't been to Derby for a number of years but this seems like the wrong time to be investing down there.

Is Derby still getting the tourism numbers it previously did?

Edit: What @bigdamo & @Stredda said
 
caad9 said:
Admittedly, I haven't been to Derby for a number of years but this seems like the wrong time to be investing down there.

Is Derby still getting the tourism numbers it previously did?

Edit: What @bigdamo & @Stredda said
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I think Derby is still getting the tourist numbers it previously did BUT I think alot of the numbers are Tasmanians coming from different parts of the state to just ride Derby for a few days. I wonder if we are still getting the numbers of mainlanders MTB'ers we previously got.

If your coming over on the boat with a large vehicle and/or trailer/camper/caravan it is real hard to book a berth at short notice( within 2 months maybe longer). That's to get over same on trying to get back and it ain't cheap.
 
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caad9 said:
Admittedly, I haven't been to Derby for a number of years but this seems like the wrong time to be investing down there.

Is Derby still getting the tourism numbers it previously did?

Edit: What @bigdamo & @Stredda said
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We rode Derby/Weldborough late Oct/early Nov. Nearly all the rego plate were from Tas. Lots of choices now. Not as many riders which I kinda like.
 
bigdamo said:
If your coming over on the boat with a large vehicle and/or trailer/camper/caravan it is real hard to book a berth at short notice( within 2 months maybe longer). That's to get over same on trying to get back and it ain't cheap.
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That's the main issue.

If you are in Tassie and need to get back to the mainland in an emergency, it's not fucking happening with your vehicle, van and gear. Flying back and leaving your shit behind is the only option.
 
ozzybmx said:
That's the main issue.

If you are in Tassie and need to get back to the mainland in an emergency, it's not fucking happening with your vehicle, van and gear. Flying back and leaving your shit behind is the only option.
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It's ok we've got a new ferry built. Oh no that's right it's berthed in Scotland costing hundred of thousands of dollars while they build a new ferry terminal in Devonport. Absolutely farcical the new ferry situation.
 
birddog69 said:
We rode Derby/Weldborough late Oct/early Nov. Nearly all the rego plate were from Tas. Lots of choices now. Not as many riders which I kinda like.
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That is why I prefer shoulder seasons at Derby. It kind of feels like you have the place to yourself these days. The sun isn’t trying to kill you either.

I feel sorry for anyone that has a financial interest in the town. The ‘season’ seems to be getting shorter and shorter. There is a lot of property for sale…
 
rstim said:
It's ok we've got a new ferry built. Oh no that's right it's berthed in Scotland costing hundred of thousands of dollars while they build a new ferry terminal in Devonport. Absolutely farcical the new ferry situation.
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Yeah, that's been a complete shit-show. I thought the new ferry was coming but they could only run it at the same capacity of the old ones until the port upgrades are complete.

EDIT: ABC article about it:
amp.abc.net.au

The new Spirit of Tasmania ferries unable to run at full capacity for years due to port upgrade delay

The ongoing saga of Tasmania's new ferries has charted yet another course, with it being revealed the bigger ships won't be able to operate at full capacity because the ships will sit too low at their temporary berth.
amp.abc.net.au amp.abc.net.au
 
beeb said:
Yeah, that's been a complete shit-show. I thought the new ferry was coming but they could only run it at the same capacity of the old ones until the port upgrades are complete.

EDIT: ABC article about it:
amp.abc.net.au

The new Spirit of Tasmania ferries unable to run at full capacity for years due to port upgrade delay

The ongoing saga of Tasmania's new ferries has charted yet another course, with it being revealed the bigger ships won't be able to operate at full capacity because the ships will sit too low at their temporary berth.
amp.abc.net.au amp.abc.net.au
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It is coming just can't find a place to berth it in Tassie.Which seems strange as we are a F**** large island. Folks are ____ ____
 
bigdamo said:
It is coming just can't find a place to berth it in Tassie.Which seems strange as we are a F**** large island. Folks are ____ ____
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I think the problem is, that there's no berth that is permanently vacant that is big enough to park it. There's really only Burnie, Devonport or Hobart that has port facilities big enough, Devonport will still have the current ferries coming in and the regular freight ships, and berth 3 is still under construction, if parked at either Burnie or Hobart it will block the docks use for freight services.
It all started when the state government dropped the initial preferred contractor of Devonport's Berth 3, because of a cost increased, but this action not only blew the timeline out a couple of years to secure another contractor but also increased the cost a whole lot more than the initial cost increase.
The handling of the new ships was no better. First off, the German company went bust (that was out of the governments control), then a Danish company was chosen but before they could start, the state government decided to halt the construction to see if an Australian builder could do the work and of course we don't have any experienced roll on roll off ship builders, so surprise surprise, they had to go back to the Danish company to say that they would like to now go back with them and of course they said, well you have lost you spot in the queue, and it will be millions more expensive now.
 
Stredda said:
I think the problem is, that there's no berth that is permanently vacant that is big enough to park it. There's really only Burnie, Devonport or Hobart that has port facilities big enough, Devonport will still have the current ferries coming in and the regular freight ships, and berth 3 is still under construction, if parked at either Burnie or Hobart it will block the docks use for freight services.
It all started when the state government dropped the initial preferred contractor of Devonport's Berth 3, because of a cost increased, but this action not only blew the timeline out a couple of years to secure another contractor but also increased the cost a whole lot more than the initial cost increase.
The handling of the new ships was no better. First off, the German company went bust (that was out of the governments control), then a Danish company was chosen but before they could start, the state government decided to halt the construction to see if an Australian builder could do the work and of course we don't have any experienced roll on roll off ship builders, so surprise surprise, they had to go back to the Danish company to say that they would like to now go back with them and of course they said, well you have lost you spot in the queue, and it will be millions more expensive now.
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There was also the element of out of sight, out of mind.
The permanent visual sight of the ferry(s) parked up in a Tassie dock would be a daily reminder of the Govs bungling of the whole situation.
 
The reality is with the shit value of the pound at the moment and the general cost of anything in Australia, it's probably cheaper to park it up in Scotland than anywhere here.
 
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