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Competition Event Usage within Knapsack
At the consultation meeting, The issue of "could we make money from the trails" was asked by Macullem.
He was shot down rather quickly as Pay to ride wont work in the area. But WSMTB stated that if they could hold events, there would be a way for the council to make money. But then Chuck shot that down pointing out that the POM states not competitions. Only with an amended POM could competitions be held.
I was just re-reading the Knapsack POM to familiarise myself and came across this
Section 4.5 page 58 "To allow for one (1) downhill track for mountain bike riders (non motorized use allowed)
within the Reserve – in partnership with Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club. Note: this
is not to be developed as a major or competition venue"
Now when I read this, it is only referring to the Downhill and not the XC.Thus with a formulized XC trail, WSMTB could hold events here and the council would be able to make money.
I thought I would post this as it may be of interest for our bid.
Its also worth noting under Section 4.11 Sewage Treatment Plant that a BMX circuit or similar (dirt jump bike site) could be an oppertuneity. This section of the POM was deffered to a later date and the area will be assessed in the near future and inserted into a future version of this Plan of Management. (thus the POM will need to be ammended in the near future anyway giving just cause)
As part of the Blue Mountains Off Road Cyclists we should try and claim a stake at the Old STP.
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The old STP is a definite opportunity. I think it would be great as a BMX track but I don't think it will ever get up because of the issue of managing traffic around the site. The no right turn off the highway means everyone has to go down Levy to get there and they wouldnt' want a lot of traffic turning onto the highway - especially late afternoon on a weekend.
But, a skills park or dirt jump site might work because most people would be riding their bikes to get there.
I have asked about the old STP with council staff and there was a reason for why it can't be used but I can't remember the reason. I think there are already plans for it. I will ask again.
As far as racing at Knapsack I know there was discussion about this with Clr McCallum and I know council likes the idea of being able to get some money back from use of the area. Clr McCallum asked whether we could charge riders but we stated the trails would need to be really good and require extra length, better build and design. (ie all costs) and to have an entry fee how would you enforce payments?
The DH would need to have extra length and spacing for racing to have to meet requirements for marshalling, shuttling etc. Si it is really just a track designed for local riders to ride downhill with minimal disturbance to the environment and surrounding residents.
The XC at this stage is far off from being a "racing loop". It would need a lot of work to even come close to being a suitable loop for that and it is of course a shared loop with walkers. Its also not long enough and seeing we will not be allowed to cut new long sections to get the necessary kms needed it isn't viable. The issue of not causing issues for neighbouring residents is also of primary importance.
Really its looked at to be a local resource area for riders to ride and train. This will keep numbers to a level that the trail can withstand (ie meet our maintenance abilities) and result with minimal impacts to others such as walkers, residents and the environment.
I think any possible advantages of having a small income from riders is definately not worth the extra money that would need to be put in and definately not worth the issues with residents who would obviously not appreciate the extra numbers, nor would the conservationists look at all kindly upon it either.
So in the end the NO racing approach is the best compromise for all parties involved. WSMTB club has Yellomundee to keep them going with XC, and though it is compromised compared to what once was it is still a longer and a better mtb trail venue than Knapsack could ever be.
If council ever decided that racing is something they want to support (and earn money from) they would need to find a better location and actively invest in it creating a suitable ammenity for it.
I reflect Moggios comments re eventing at Knapsack attempting to stage events there will be a massive compromise from the concept we put forward and would lead to resident issues.
Let's enjoy it as a recreation venue.
I had to think so hard to work out what STP was ...
Very early on in the piece, We did speak with Staff re plans for the site ... basically there were no plans at that stage (that was like April/May I think). However we did very briefly discuss DJs, pump tracks and additional parking. I vaguely recall that we may have made mention if it in our recommendations ... as part of future linkages and tourist trails ... apologies, kinda blurring given all the discussions and the amount of time.
I think we kinda parked chasing it given we had bigger fish to fry with Knapsack, and also getting a test case for sustainable trails, before we went for additional items.
I'll follow it up
Competition use is the only way to make money. This is the reason our club knocked back the offer of taking over a bit of council land for a jump park. Taking on an are like that is work for zero return for our club.
Council has a responsibility to prove appropriate recreation opportunities, sure we're happy to help in any way we can but for a volunteer organization with zero cash flow to take over that responsibility is ludicris.
What competitions do council run in their parks to cover costs? What about on their walking trails?
I'd be very very reluctant to make this a competition area considering we've asked BMCC whether we could run comps in other reserves and their answer has always been "yes but we can not grant you exclusive access."
If you can't keep other users off the trails it makes it very difficult to sign off on a competitions safety.
Lets keep recreation and competition area separate in this instance
As for charging riders to ride recreationally the trails would have to be awesome and there would have to be dedicated trail maintenance crews otherwise riders will option to chance a fine on otherwise free to use trails in the area. And again do they charge families for picnicking in the park to recover maintenance costs?