You are hereForums / The Knapsack Project / knapsack maintence

knapsack maintence


DigDig's picture

By DigDig - Posted on 27 April 2014

Just wondering when or if we are going to have a maintence day for the Knapsack DH track or is the council dooming it to failure in letting it fall into disrepair.

ChopStiR's picture

Pretty much, Recently Micheal and Al met with council to discuss plans to get the XC underway. Council staff are claiming they are being smashed with freedom of information requests from our opposition which is placing a massive burden on the real work not just for us but many other council related jobs that need attention. This is ironically preventing us from keeping the trails Environmentally sustainable, go figure. Council said they would only do 4 days a year. This would have to be shared with the DH ie 3days xc 1day dh until the xc was up to scratch. . Plus, despite having approved new sections of trail to be cut to formalise the xc circuit already signposted on site as existing, they still have no intentions to complete. Micheal and Al have walked away saying not good enough. They are currently preparing notes and we will soon be looking to organise a meeting for all interested in continuing the effort to discuss a plan of action. This will most probably be held on site or nearby.

DigDig's picture

Cool just as I thought BMCC are made of cardboard what a waste.

Muninjitsu's picture

We all know what preparing notes means......council code for we have no back bone and don't want to fight your fight. Typical.

Andy Bloot's picture

That means they have forfeited their right to make comment if unauthorised trails pop up
They've made their position clear (well..we know what they mean)
And we will continue somewhere else without them
Soft cocks

The Brown Hornet's picture

Funny that this should come up. I sent an email to council just over 2 weeks ago asking about the state of Knapsack and what the future holds. Still no reply.

ChopStiR's picture

Munijitsu, I was referring to Micheal and Al are preparing notes.

My frustration is from repeatedly requesting to be able to Volunteer at Knapsack 12 days a year. Works required are Weed removal, Formalising an XC circuit and trail maintenance to help prevent further erosion of existing trails. We have our so called environmental opposition trying their their best to burden the council to impact on us and its working. The Irony of it all is its the Environmentalists that are preventing us from protecting the environment.

Dear opposition, we know you check our forum and read these posts. Why is it that majority of Environmentalists assume Mountain bikers are bad. To put it in a terms that you may understand, Its like assuming all blacks are criminals. You know its not true so why do you assume we don't care about the environment. The DH trail is done and dusted but needs regular maintenance to help protect the surrounding critical environment. Its not us you're hurting. You are hurting the environment that you think you are trying to protect. Rather than being a burden, how about you cut us some slack and help out. Help us get what we need to make a sustainable environment and help out at the maintenance days and see what we are all about.

Kooleen's picture

I find it strange that MTB seem to have become the enemy of the environmentalists!!
In the mid to late 90's there was a push by the Faulconbridge Residents Association to have NPWS open the Grose Road gate to Faulconbridge Point. At the same time, there was a draft plan of management for BM National Park that contained a clause: "The NPWS will listen to The 4WD Association regarding restricted access to Faulconbridge Point". The end result was that the BM Conservation Society and the (now defunct) Lower Mountains Bicycle Users Group joined forces and made sure both proposals did not happen. I remember there was a petition at the gate in a weather proof bag for cyclists and joggers to sign!!!

MTB groups were useful allies then.

MTB was seen as environmentally sustainable.

When did the two groups become estranged?

Chuck's picture

"When did the two groups become estranged?"

When we ventured off fire trails looking for sweet single track!

The Brown Hornet's picture

The (not so) funny thing about our "environmental" friends is that they are quite happy to ask for mtb support when it comes to getting numbers to sign petitions, go to rallies etc etc. When I tell them that it is a 2 way street as far as cooperation goes I'm met with blank looks, as if they don't know what I'm talking about.

They can lock up every inch of bush if they want. Then when people get pissed off because they have no access to the bush and vote in the Fishers and Shooters and the Outdoor Recreation Party, who will force access, they can cry themselves to sleep at night.

Some environmental groups need to pull their heads out of their arses and move with the times.

Andy Bloot's picture

My experience of 'environmental groups' (particularly in the mountains) is that they mainly consist of nearly deads
Retired, resist vehimently any change to the old way of doing things
Have lots of free time to make nuisances of themselves to anybody who threatens their old world view
I don't believe they give a shit about the bush, only about themselves and the impact that any form of progress has on them

So before this post gets deleted I'll have my rant
I don't know why we pander to these people
Who cares if we have their blessing or not
I'm 51 years old this year and I don't have the time to wait around for supply to meet demand - I'll be a nearly dead myself by then

We are members of a massive group that has high disposable incomes
I guess that we are such law abiding and positive members of the community that we want to do the right thing by gaining acceptance
And I have always kicked against the norm and disliked authority
But I just can't understand why we need to take these people so seriously

I hear quite often that if we don't do the right thing we will lose our access altogether
Well, we do the right thing and get slapped in the face and treated like cretins
What are they going to do if you just maintain and improve the trails without their OK?
Put up a massive fence? A sign? Say that you are naughty by making the trail more sustainable and jeopordising future projects by doing so without them having their representative present?
It's laughable

I moved to the mountains 5 years ago and went to the first council meeting about the OBR alternative back then
We have towed the line with endless council meetings, environmental reports, bbq's to raise funds for signage, letter box drops, lots of goodwill, etc etc etc
And the result is that we have a short DH trail that we are not allowed to maintain

How far have we actually progressed in those 5 years by doing things their way?

Username2's picture

I couldnt agree more with the above comments!

The existing trails were put there by like minded people all those years ago, all we can do now is improve on them and maintain them to be more sustainable.

To all the oposition we have i personally find mountain bikes wholm build and maintain (especially the maintain bit) are stand up characters. These are the minority who give up their time so the majority can enjoy the improvements, safer and more sustainable conditions.

We arn't asking for the earth and as Andy has said we have waited long enough...

I too think its time to do our own work.

In the years to come once the local trail networks become larger with better features the council will thank us for bringing more to the communitiy. By more i mean; More options for recreation, more sustained trails, more for the economy, an improved image for BMCC. And the best bit? - we will be doing it all for the love of it not costing them a single cent.

Cycling is here to stay - like it or otherwise.

Andy Bloot's picture

This is definitely a case of 'better to ask forgiveness than ask permission'

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Best Mountain Bike