Parramatta Council - Letter template - Help us Stop Parra Lakes Closure

Guys/Gals,

Chris put the following together in an attempt to have as many of us write to Parramatta Council and generate some pressure against the potential closure of the Parra Lakes to all mountain bikers. Even if you haven't been to the track we would really appreciate it if you could take 10 mins to either write your own letter [best option] or at the very least, copy and paste the template below and send it to council. If we can get a response similar to what we got when council attempted to close Manly Dam it would be awesome. We need to stick together as a group otherwise we could find ourselves getting marginalized and pushed from areas we have been using.

Also, if you see or know people who are illegally building trails remind them that in the long run all they are doing is damaging our collective reputation, and in the end, walkers, runners, council workers and the government will put us all into the same basket - even though we know most of us don't deserve it.

Alberto

The following is an e-mail/letter template for people's use in sending a response to Parramatta Council.
If you want a copy of the petition document, please e-mail me at: sellwood@tpg.com.au
I have also some notes of ideas that we've been kicking around to flesh out a submission if you want that too.

Chris

To Parramatta City Council Date
Troy Holbrook,
PO Box 32, Parramatta NSW 2124.

openspace@parracity.nsw.gov.au

Re - Draft Plan of Management for the Lake Parramatta Reserve

As a regular rider at Lake Parramatta, I support mountain biking there and ask that Parramatta City Council, as part of it’s new Plan of Management, provide authorised off-road cycling trails within the Reserve.

The unauthorised trails are being built because of a lack of proper facilities for mountain biking. The example of Manly Dam came from an original network of unauthorised trails being reduced to a single dedicated cycling trail. This is regularly maintained by Warringah Council with the assistance of volunteers who are avid cyclists.

Another example is the extensive mountain bike trails in the Glenrock State Conservation Area near Newcastle, which is maintained by the National Parks & Wildlife Service and volunteers. This has been a successful trial for the concept of mountain bike facilities within a conservation area and was purpose designed by experts in the field and built specifically to provide technical off-road facilities to the general public.

Sustainable cycling trails can be designed, set up in less sensitive areas in the reserve and maintained to protect the more sensitive bushland areas from damage in the same fashion that properly designed walking trails can protect those same areas.

It is generally agreed amongst the cycling fraternity that the existing walking tracks at Lake Parramatta are not suitable for cycling and these are generally not ridden on.
Should trails be built, there will be no longer any need to ride on them and with suitable signposting, walkers and cyclists would be well separated.

If facilities can be provided for other users of the Reserve such as families, walkers and kayakers, then why not for mountain bike cyclists?

Therefore I ask that the Draft Plan of Management be amended to include provision of a number sustainable off-road cycling tracks.

Thank you

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