It is my view, as a “Suburban” Green, that we, as the local Greens group, need to properly consider all sides of this matter.
I have a fairly strong view, though I am ready for it to be challenged, that we need to support initiatives for active recreation, especially affordable unstructured youth activity, such as Mountain Biking. Especially if organised and managed in a positive, even educational way. Instead of trying to lock people (except PLUs) out of Berowra Valley Regional Park, and for that matter other urban fringe national parks, we should be encouraging people to use these resources, wisely, and to become more appreciative and informed about the bio diversity and other issues involved in the proper management of parks.
The answer surely is for reasonable people from the Conservation groups and the Mountain Bike groups to get together and try to understand each other’s point of view, and see if it is possible to have a eco-friendly bike trail somewhere in the locality. I believe that we, as a local Greens group, should be able to work with both groups to try to find a reasonable solution, if each group is prepared to be reasonable about it. We surely should be able to find some common purpose with people who’s activity is so close to bushwalking.
Without a managed trail, the odds are strong that un-managed use will proliferate and do real damage.
