Groups clash over trail use

Some of the region’s most respected conservationists and mountain-bike figures are in dispute about a contentious Shire-led trails plan linking Margaret River to the coast.

Mountain-bikers said they were surprised by the recent uproar after the Cape to Cape Catchments Group and other rehabilitation workers this week called for a rethink of the Winter Diversions Trail project which follows the foreshore between Margaret River to just short of the ruins of Wallcliffe House.

The trail project is co-ordinated by the Friends of the Cape to Cape Track with funding from the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River and is supported by the Margaret River Off-Road Cycling Association.

A who’s who of local conservationists and mountain bikers attended a closed meeting at the Shire offices on Wednesday afternoon after a formal warning from the CCCG about dangers to trail users as well as sensitive wetland not previously open to the public.

CCCG co-ordinator Caroline Hughes said the group supported the project, but believed it could be done with less damage to the environment.

“CCCG is concerned that the proposed trail is intruding into and opening up this narrow, vulnerable foreshore to pressures of construction, infrastructure and access that pose very high risks of degrading this well-managed, high-quality stretch of the Margaret River,” she said.

“CCCG also strongly believes that this environmentally-sensitive area is suited only to low-impact recreational activity and urges the Shire to thoroughly reconsider the dual-use nature of the trail.”

MRORCA spokesman John Dingey said conservationists misunderstood the trail design, which would suit family riders as well as trekkers.

The 1.4m-wide standard design would make “cutting loose” nearly impossible.

“This trail was made for everyone,” he told theTimes .

“Now that a significant section of this trail has been built, a splinter group has emerged attempting to ban much of the community from an asset that was created for all.”

Friends of the Cape to Cape Track spokesman and former City of Busselton councillor Tom Tuffin said Lotterieswest funding was based on the concept of dual-use and concerns should have been raised two years ago during planning.

Mr Dingey said the design was audited at the highest level and would feature in the South West Mountain-Biking Strategy, in which Margaret River plays a lead role.

Bushland rehabilitation workers such as Ray Swarts said conservationists only recently understood how mountain biking featured in the trail design.

“Although the dual-use path proposed was a well-intentioned idea, as always, the devil is in the detail,” he said.

“I don’t think it is appropriate or practical to create a safe and environmentally-acceptable dual-use path in this fragile and picturesque foreshore environment.”

Shire assets manager David Nicholson said the plan had been designed with input from many local groups to suit walkers and cyclists.

The Shire did not indicate it had any plans to rethink its position on the project to consider the CCCG’s concerns.