Mountain biking: Green light at Meelup

A decision by the Busselton Shire Council to allow mountain biking in the Meelup Regional Park is one step closer, following years of lobbying by local enthusiasts.

Cape Mountain Bikers’ Club had been working with the Meelup Regional Park management committee for three years to lift the prohibition on cycling within the park.

“We’ve developed a concept map with the committee to identify which trails would be safe to be ridden by cyclists and which ones would stay as walking trails,” CMB secretary Richard Renn said.

“This will need to go out for community consultation before it can be approved.”

Council commercial services manager Jenny May said the designated bike trails were existing trails which had been identified as resulting in minimal environmental impact to the park.

“Unmanaged bicycle riding in the Meelup Regional Park can lead to detrimental environmental impacts and hence the approach to allow bike riding in specific areas only where their impacts can be reduced or mitigated,” she said.

Mr Renn said the trails would not only cater to “diehard mountain bikers” but also recreational cyclists and families, providing cycling access to Eagle Bay and Meelup Beach.

Mr Renn said the next steps would include changing the Meelup Regional Park master plan to allow cycling, and clearly signposting the cycling and walking trails.

“The club will have to oversee maintenance of the cycling trails together with the park committee,” he said.

“The trails will be ridden often by members of the club, and we will be attempting to hold a maintenance day every month.

We will be raising money through the Trails West grant process for the signage and ongoing maintenance.”

The public consultation survey is available on the Busselton Shire Council website, and closes on Monday, August 29 at 5pm.