Bureaucrat's Errors Mean closure for Manly Dam

This is a joke! First Oxford Falls and now the Dam. I have been obeying the closed trails for years now, waiting patiently for Council to come to their senses, but now I really don't see any other choice as there is no way I am going to stop riding.

Don't they see that by closing down the only decent trail in the area, MTB riders will just head back to the other previously closed areas or start building their own tracks?

If they expect us to obey closed areas then they must give a little in return. Now there is nothing I for one will be heading back to my old favorites at Oxford falls.

It sounds like the Mayor, whether happy or not, made the final decision to close these shared single-track sections of the trail. My email will be going to him...

was there a clue in the email ... do they want something ... something from the state ... money ... or volunteers to build the track maybe ...

Here is the letter my fiance just wrote to all the above emails:

Dear Council,

I am writing to you today to express my concern regarding the closing of the Manly dam bike track. I am a regular rider there and it breaks my heart to hear that such a great trail is threatened. One of the reasons Manly is so fantastic is because of the wonderful nature that you have preserved. It is a world class trail just minutes from the city. Your actions are making mountain bikers ride on a main road that is constantly busy with traffic. This could very well in turn create major traumas and accidents for bike riders and motorists. I hate to see the day when I read in the paper that a mountain biker was injured or even killed because of the decision you have made. Since there are already numerous hiking trails around the dam isn't fair to leave at least one bike trail?

I hope the decision to close the trail will be examined and reversed as soon as possible.

Thank you kindly

Gigi Edgley

If anyone has the right connections, Cadel Evans could be a great advocate on this.

He's a mountain biker from way back, and is very vocal on cycling issues and other matters (like Tibet).

I just noticed that the 'pro-cycling' and fast talking Honourable Mr Tony Abbott MP is the federal member for Warringah. We can also see what his office has to say about this decision.

Sent to all the Warringah councillors .....

Sirs

It is with great unease that I read the recent media release from Warringah Council regarding the closure of significant parts of the Manly Dam multi use track to cyclists.

As a local resident, ratepayer and voter ( ... mountain biker, bushwalker, environmentalist etc. etc.) I have a number of concerns regarding this development and would like to register my objection in the stongest terms. I am sure that a number of you will be equally opposed to this move and I urge you to voice your opposition also.

To attempt to promote this move to your constituents as ‘ putting safety first’ is at best negligently uninformed and at worst, wilfully misleading.

My understanding is that the singletrack areas in question are being closed to mountain bikers because of safety concerns, presumably the danger of ‘conflict’ between riders and walkers. The trails in question have been used extensively by mountain bikers and walkers for years without any significant problems ( have there have been a spate of serious accidents sometime in the last couple of days which I missed ? ). The fact that an age old, arcane bureaucratic bungle has come to light plays no part in the safety or otherwise of the trails in question. To suggest that it does is frankly laughable however the media release from Warringah Council states in it’s headline :

Warringah Council puts safety first!

Warringah Council has put the brakes on bike riding for safety reasons ......

It certainly makes our council appear to be acting very responsibly ( although the pun in the second line is cringeworthy). However, if we look at the actual proposal, we can see that it is in fact quite the opposite.

By forcing riders off of the track ( in three places) and onto roads, the risk of accident is in fact significantly increased. To look only at one of these situations, mountain bikers would be required to either ride on the wrong side of Wakehurst Parkway or cross the flow of traffic twice then ride alongside vehicles travelling in excess of 70km/h. Both of these options present clear opportunities for ‘conflict’. How this can be putting safety first is simply beyond me. Perhaps council are proposing to build a cyclepath or install some safe crossing system for cyclists however I suspect that this is not the case. Please note that many people ride the dam with their kids and would not consider letting them cycle along this particular stretch of road. Just one more small victory for the Xbox and Wii.

A second concern is that by forcing mountain bikers onto the adjacent roads, they will cause a significant inconvenience to drivers. Manly Dam is one of the most popular mountain bike locations in Australia and on weekends it plays host to hundreds of riders each day. Even on weekdays it is riden by significant numbers. Having this many riders trying to cross and then re-cross Wakehurst Parkway is a recipie for traffic delays and frustration.

My third concern is that the closing of these trails is supposedly a ‘ risk mitigation’ action to prevent council being held liable for any injuries which happen on the singletrack. If this is the case, it strikes me as a truly callous action. As mentioned previously, the new proposed route is clearly less safe than the current route. So, more accidents will happen but that won’t bother council as it won’t be happening on their property ! I’m sure the person hit by a truck while trying to cross the Parkway could make a case that it was a failure in councils duty of care that led to them being on the road to begin with.

Issue four regards the apparent disregard for the sterling work done recently by many of the stakeholders ( both in council, crown and NPWS controlled areas) to come together and try to create a truly sustainable network of trails which provide recreational facilities for a broad range of users. While this planning is by definition long term, I hoped that in a few years my children would have a well designed, sustainable and legal place to ride their bikes. Unlike adults, they cannot put their bike in the car and trek to the central coast for the day. Given the immense popularity of mountain biking and its continuing growth, surely we should be finding ways to provide more facilities for off road riding rather than closing down the very few which already exist.

Lastly I would like to say that examples of authorities and communities embracing the benefits of mountain biking are plentiful and are growing substantially with each passing month. Just not anywhere near here ...We constantly hear of new trail networks being opened in places such as Melrose, Eagle Park, Forrest, Mudi Bindi etc. It is notable that contrary to the trend in the rest of Australia ( and the rest of the world...) our local representatives seem intent on trying to discourage mountain bike usage ( and the plethora of health and commerce benefits they can bring).

In conclusion, I believe the proposed measures will significantly reduce safety, increase inconvenience to traffic and have no effect whatsoever on the councils exposure to liability. In each case this runs contrary to councils stated intentions.
The cynical among us would suggest that this contradiction hints at an underlying intent to remove mountain bikers completely from the dam trails. Not being cynical, I would assume that if council wished this, they would be happy to present their case ( with statistics) as part of an open, wide ranging and honest debate.... the sort conspicuously absent from last Tuesday evenings council meeting.

I look forward to responses which might clarify individual councillors positions on this matter as it will be the deciding factor in determining where my vote goes at the next election.

Yours

Craig Burns
(Address supplied)

Now for one to the state reps and ministers....

CB

Dear Mayor, Councilors and Honorable Members of Parliament
I write to you in response to the recent closure of access to Mountain Bikes to certain sections of Manly Warringah War Memorial Park, commonly known as Manly Dam.

I am a rate paying resident of Manly Vale and was shocked to learn of what appears to have been a knee-jerk decision by Warringah Council yesterday without any engagement of stakeholders concerned. I understand the position that Council have been faced with, the need to react to a previous bureaucratic error regarding safety, that has ultimately led to part of its closure. No doubt Council aren't happy with the decision they have been forced to take but had no other option but to close The Dam until a solution can be found. It's disheartening to read in the Press Release dated 12.02.10 (attached) that it could take 6 months before a solution can be found.

I've considered myself very lucky all these years for having such a great natural resource available on my very doorstep. So much so in fact that I take the opportunity to ride around Manly Dam every weekend and again during the week. Not once have I ever encountered walkers along the sections that have been identified as unsafe and not once have I encountered any natural part of the trail which could considered unsafe. The only sections I would consider to be 'unsafe' have always been at the hands of so-called Council improvements. These improvements that Council consider to be safe, we the Mountain Bike community do not. I refer to the recent works done on the section running from Allambie down to the Manly Hydro Works where large timber steps with sharp pointy corners have been put in place adjacent to a twisting downhill boardwalk section than can be tricky to negotiate in damp conditions. This has been identified amongst the MTB community as the scariest 'improvement' Council have made to date. Yet Council are apparently happy that this section is considered to be classified safe. That's just one example.

The MTB community is fully aware that our sport is met with certain safety aspects which to the average layman could be seen as either dangerous or unsafe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our rider base is largely made up of individuals 30yrs+ we value our health and certainly have enough commonsense between us to identify what is safe and what is not. We certainly do not appreciate it when The State decides it for us. Indeed we all practice the philosophy of riding within our limits. Like any sport we occasional feel the need to test this limit and improve our level of skill and this is why we enjoy our sport so much. But this does not render our activities unsafe. This 'nannying' approach isn't appreciated and sadly it could introduce undesirable side effects between Mountain Bikers, Park Rangers, motorists and non-biking residents alike if it isn't resolved in a timely fashion. We want to be working together with you on this issue. Please engage with us.

Naturally I could go on about the health, environmental and economic benefits of bike riding, but you don't need me to tell you how much fun and environmentally responsible riding bikes can be and the positive effect it has on local business. It saddens me to know that I now have to get in my car and unnecessarily increase my carbon footprint and drive to other locations to ride a bike. Or, worse still, be forced to ride alongside The Wakehurst Parkway against the flow of traffic of cars traveling in excess of 80km's an hour. Now that really is unsafe.

Manly Dam is the most popular area in Sydney for recreational Mountain Biking and by default would be fair to argue it as the most popular spot in the whole of Australia. It has been recognised by Mountain Bike publications all over The World as THE premium destination for Mountain Biking in Sydney. A reputation that is not easily earned, but would appear could be easily lost. Warringah Council will need to employ and I dare say at cost to the rate payer a very good PR firm to spin away the bad publicity that this decision will unfortunately create.

I hope we can draw a quick solution to this.

Thank you to Simone Savic at Warringah Council for informing me of the latest developments.

Kind regards
Phil Beresford
A concerned resident, Manly Vale

Just got a response from my email to the organisers of Mont24hr. Allan has been kind enough to put links up to Nobmob and advertise the ride on the 6th March. They are also going to spread the news in their next newletter.
http://www.mont24.com.au/news/?IntCatId=20

Here is a great article that may help some of you with your letters..

http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/16/dont-waste-y...

I've had 4 responses from my email
They would mostly be a cut and paste, but they did take the time at least to draft a good response
Of course, all these people are against the decision
Those few who made the decision (there was no vote on it) will be too gutless to respond

Anyway, it's the old safety/ litigation issue again
I can't see how diverting onto W'hust p'way would be considered safer
But I guess that's not their problem, is it

I'm not being patronising, but I do feel sorry for you guys who do so much to keep these people on side
Only to get kicked in the nuts
It's insulting and demorilizing. It's just bloody offensive.

You've gotta fight the power, you've gotta fight the powers that be

Andy...

That sounds like a great way to piss of the very people who will help us with this issue. They didnt vote on this, it was done by some unknown person in Council.

Stay civil. Write a clear and intelligent letter. Work with these people not against them.

Besides.. half of these people seem to be using hotmail / yahoo / gmail so the idea of "clogging" their email server seems unlikely.

They now have a power legislated under the Local Government Act that gives them the ability to "manage" their interactions with you if satisfy certain criteria.

This is definitely one way to get yourself classified as a nuisance. All your interactions will be instantly devalued and gives them a legitimate excuse to ignore you.

I don't think this helps.

You'd be better off researching what each councillor's interests and hot buttons are and framing your responses in terms of how helping us helps them. Don't assume! Do your homework.

...on King Street near the car park at Manly Hydraulics Lab.

We were covered in mud and he observed that we had just finished riding, then asked "did you notice that sections of the track are closed?" and we replied "yes".

He didn't ask if we had ridden those closed sections and didn't offer any other information - just drove off.

Just wondering if anyone else notied that this whole thing came up soon after a typically sensationalist article in the SMH before xmas concerning the potential for injury to walkers in the Manly Dam network? Comment was sought from NPWS and MTB Australia in the article, neither of whom saw an issue, but the attitude of the article remained the same, that MTB was a dangerous and irresponsible sport, that shouldnt take place in a dual use area like Manly Dam. The author's chief anti MTB respondent was, as usual, a representative from the National Parks Association, the mob who believe the only use a NP should be put to is walking, preferably in long socks and tevas. In addition to bombarding local councilors, MTB riders should also bombard the SMH about the rampantly anti-bike stance, from this type of article to the extremely anti-bike cartoon they published in the summer addition, the SMH have taken a very unbalanced stance on riding and MTB in particular. Write to them. Put our points!
In addition, I agree with a comment above- ban walkers from the single track, there's plenty of alternatives for them in the dam, kilometres actually, which riders cannot use. Why us and not them?
Haz.

Cunningly, the end section of the track has not been affected by this action. He probably assumed you were just riding there.

Email sent

got some excellent responese

Virginia Laugesen

Dear Andrew,

Thanks for your email. I fully understand your reaction and your sadness about this. I am the councillor who brought a Notice of Motion to council to reinstate mountain bike volunteer days, which were abandoned 1-2 years ago.

See item 12.7 of: http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/council_then/doc...

My NoM was deferred to a briefing. During its preparation, council staff discovered the technicality in the 1998 Plan of Management – that the 1.2km section of track near Wakehurst Pwy (and now other sections) have never had permission for bikes. Without consultation, the briefing’s topic changed direction from: how can we reinstate volunteers? to: is mountain biking ‘legal’ at Manly Dam?

At the 9 February 2010 ordinary meeting, my original NoM was to be resubmitted. I spent the time since the briefing of the week before preparing an amendment (about volunteering) that I believed would be a compromise to suit bikers, environmentalists and council staff. Not perfect for any one party, but better than nothing, under the circumstances. The expectation was that four options for the future of bikes at the dam would come to us for voting, at the 23/2 meeting – separate to my NoM.

The decision to close the circuit track from 12 February, was emailed to councillors late that day at the same time it went to the media and online. Councillors did NOT vote on the track’s closure, nor were we given the chance to do so. This seems to be a turnaround on the briefing’s advice. It was my understanding no changes to the tracks would be made until we were presented with a report of four options (originally 23/2 but now 23/3, see below).

Because it was my NoM, raised with good intentions to preserve and improve the volunteer work structure, and because it has so alarmingly backfired, I will prepare a statement for the media to set the record straight, along the same lines as this email.

I apologise that this matter has been taken out of hand and out of context, resulting in this highly unexpected and upsetting outcome for local mountain bike riders.

Regards,
Virginia Laugesen
Councillor for C Ward

and

From Vincent De Luca
Please be assured this is not a decision I have made! It is one of the Mayor, Michael Regan and Council Staff.

Several Councillors have expressed concern as to how this decision can be made and a Media Release issued stating it's a Council decision when the Council has not voted on it!

Council will vote on this important issue at the Council meeting on Tuesday week.

As always, my vote will be in accordance with what the community wants.

Regards

Vincent De Luca OAM
Warringah Councillor for 'A' Ward

Sent via BlackBerry® from Telstra

I just sent a reply back thanking them for their responses and offerring our services and support and got this back a few minutes later!

From Cllr Christina Kirsch
Dear Andrew,

Thank you for taking the time to write to council on this important issue.

I would just like to clarify that the decision to close the track was NOT made by the elected council but by council staff. We as councillors have not been allowed to have any say and, quite the opposite, myself and Virginia wanted to prevent the closure and leave the track accessible based on the 12 year precedent, whilst a new solution was found.

Virginia and myself have put forward a motion to reinstate the volunteers involved in track work under close supervision. Staff then suddenly realized that they had ignored the Plan of Management for 12 years and decided to close the track. I am opposed to the closure, but the decision did not come to a vote by the elected council.

Virginia and myself are trying to revert this asap, but we are handicapped because Cr Falinski put forward a motion to reduce our council meetings from fortnightly to monthly, which was unfortunately supported by the majority of councillors (see meeting minutes online at Warringah council's webpage for details on votes). This means that we have fewer opportunities where we as elected council can have some input into the strategic direction and can attempt to change decisions made by council staff.

The track will come back on the 23rd February to an extraordinary meeting. But staff do not allow us to have a public forum, which we normally have at council meetings, and which allows the public to address council. I am considering wearing a gag in protest.
You may still want to attend the meeting which will start at 6 pm.

Regards,

Christina

PS: Virginia and myself are trying to get the Ride2school program (see google) up in Warringah for a ride to school day on 17th March in order to encourage more kids and parents to cycle to school - your support would be appreciated!

What a joke, it'd be so funny if it wasn't for real.
I'm especially bummed because I pulled out of riding a loop on Friday due to the heat & now I have to wait at least 6 months.
Absolutely absurd!!!

My Email sent to the Mayor & Councillors ------------------------------------------

RE: Media Release "Warringah Council Puts Safety First" 12/10/2010‏

Dear Mayor/Councillors,

I'm extremely concerned about the mixed messages that Warringah Council is sending to the bicycling community.

Last week I was reading through Council's Draft Cycling Plan (thinking to myself how fantastic) & was having some regrets that I have only recenlty moved north to Pittwater after living for 40 years in Warringah.

And then suddenly without warning, Council decides to close down sections of the Manly Dam trail, citing technicalities in the POM & safety. And furthermore - it will take 6 months to rectify!!!

Quite simply - this is an extremely unreasonable over-reaction to impose upon the bicycling community.

Could you please explain:
1) Why these sections of track have not been designated for cycling use and this issue has not come to light in over 10 years since the POM was adopted;
2) How forcing cyclists onto Wakehurst Parkway with 80km/h traffic in their safety interests.

Please lift the track closures immediately under some interim measures until the issues within the POM can be rectified.

Regards,

Mark Turnbull
(Address Supplied)

Not sure if this has been posted from warringahs website, this one has questions and answers. Obviously to try and stop people emailing and calling.

http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/services/documen...

Hows this one:

Is the track still open to bush walkers?
Yes it is.

Hers a few of my own questions and hypothetical council responses

Is there a thousand walking trails open to bush walkers in warringah?
Yes there are.

Is there ANY legal single trail of significant distance open to mountain bikers in warringah?
um...no there isn't.

Do you think that is fair then to ban mtbers over walkers from the only available legal single trail, considering mountain bikers are clearly one of the top user group of the dam, there is plenty of alternate walking trails, it has been proven scientifically to be a sustainable practice and there is no evidence of safety risks
Well looking from that point of view..not really.

this looks VERY promising - read the last paragraph from Cr Bob Giltinan J.P:

Dear Martin,

Thank you for your email. I fully understand your objections and concerns to the closure of the track sections at Manly Dam.

What many people don't realise is that the elected Council had nothing to do with the decision. I personally brought the issue up at last Tuesday's Council meeting. The safety board working on all areas of the community made the decision based on safety, liability and the law.

Moving forward, after much researching and communicating, it looks as though we may have found a way to reverse this decision at the Council meeting on the 23rd of February in favour of all mountain bikers!

I am horrified to hear you people are having problems in your local patch with legal access. I have never ridden Manly Dam but I know a lot of people who have, and how important it is to them.
I see elsewhere on this excellent site that there are moves afoot to reverse the bungled process by which the trails got closed, but I thought I should weigh in anyway on a subject that is important to all of us, wherever we are.
Councils and other bureaucratic bodies are made up of elected and non-elected parties. the elected ones are very aware of how easy they can get un-elected. It is always worthwhile going along to council meetings and media and banging away at the situation. The demographics of mountain biking are a useful club to whack councillors over the head with: most people who ride mountain bikes for fun are tax paying or rates paying folk, who have jobs and incomes. They are adults, they are responsible (for the most part) and they vote. Make noise, badger them until they start to listen.

Good luck!

has anyone sighted an email from the mayor yet?
Maybe he is to busy walking/jogging the single track.

Sounds like there are maybe three more trigger points on which we could e mail councillors:

1. between now and next Tues., urging them to support Cllr Laugesen's urgency motion on 23 Feb (or else the tracks will remain closed indefinitely)
2. once the documents for the 23 March meeting are released and assessed, there is probably a need to correspond further to advise councillors how we think they should vote on any relevant items
3. responding to the call for public consultation on the 23 March plan (assuming it is released for public comment after that meeting)

Hard work this lobbying......

The majority of the councillors who I cc'd on my email have kindly taken the time to fully respond - I think the bulk of the responses have already been posted by others to this site
The concensus in these responses seems to be that they are mightily pissed off that this happen with no recourse to Council

Funnily enough, the Mayor, who was the only direct addressee has not bothered to reply.
He's probably busy planning on putting in parking meters at the hydro station!