NPWS Protest

The Australian Horse Alliance are one group we need to talk to as they seem to have been fighting this good fight longer then us.

I searched the NPWS site last night using the "keyword" [Mountain Bike trails] and can you believe a "0" result to my search even though the Royal National Park has "Official" mountain bike trails.

The Garrigal Nation Park site has comments stating "accessible areas for the public to enjoy", clearly walkers only, even though it is stated in other publications that walkers can do more damage than mountain bike riders as walkers do stop and smell the roses , pick them, turn over rocks then poo behind them.

The mountain bike / erosion issue is a crook of shit also as erosion bars could be installed on single trails and work just as effectively as they do on Fire trails. Just let us organise local volunteer trail maintenance days as are organised by the local rangers at the Manly Dam.

As a kid I remember drives with my family where we would look out the window of the car and see natural bush as far as the eye could see. Now all the vantage point drives (high sides of the roads) have been allowed to have trees grow to a height where my kids don’t know if their driving past a beautiful National Park or sections of the local soccer playing fields. I also noticed that around the Narrabeen Lagoon that the “lets plant trees and stop the public seeing the lagoon” practice are in place there as well. Also, has anybody notice that the sign at the intersection of Terry Hills and Mona Vale Rd that once stated “View north of the Garrigal Nation Park “has been removed as there is now no view because the trees have been allowed to grow too high?

I want all the trees lining the high points looking into National Parks, lakes and lagoons cut back so the public can enjoy what the NPWS are trying to preserve.

I want the NPWS to understand that mountain bikes and those that ride them are now part of the future for getting around national parks.

I want NPWS to work with groups like the mountain bike riders, horse riders & and bush walkers to resolve this stand off as a non satisfactory agreement for ALL will result in never ending aggression.

It is clear that there is an influential (if not small) group of people strongly opposed to the growth of mountain bikes in the national parks and unfortunately they tie in too closely with the extreme element in the NPWS hierarchy and political party groups like the “Greens”.

I am so disappointed that even after members of our mountain bike group (NoBMoB) had a meeting with the local Garrigal Rangers of the NPWS that the sudden closures of local trails over the last few weeks wasn’t brought to the table. Maybe the Local lads didn’t know? That I could believe.

Time for action I’m afraid as I am not going to stop enjoying my local National Parks.

Greg Pike