The tourism boss behind a push to upgrade the Mount Keira Summit Park says a state government cash injection is a “no-brainer”, as a project to identify mountain bike trails gains momentum.
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Destination Wollongong (DW) was this week finalising a tender process that would explore options for the trails while maintaining the mountain’s cultural and heritage aspects.
The move comes after the Mercury revealed last Saturday the NSW government would give Wollongong City Council $635,000 to construct a permanent kiosk/cafe and other park facilities.
A portion of the money would also be put towards a feasibility study for mountain bike trails in the area.
DW general manager Mark Sleigh welcomed the funding injection and said talks with the council and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service were already under way.
“I think from a Destination Wollongong perspective, it’s a no-brainer,” Mr Sleigh said.
“We’ve got people riding mountain bikes every single day of the year on the trails on the Illawarra escarpment, but it’s not something at the moment that we can use as a leverage for visitation.
“It really is a walk-up start, it’s just legalising something that’s happening every single day of the year anyway.”
Mr Sleigh said a tender process for mountain bike planning was in its final stages.
“Once the consultant’s engaged, we’d expect that they’d be here within the fortnight to get the process started,” he said.
They [mountain bikers] want to improve the integrity of the mountain and the ecology up there, not destroy it.
- Mark Sleigh
“The project needs to be delivered no later than the 30th of November and there’s a fair bit of work to do.”
The project involves defining the trails that already exist and determining other trails needed to link the existing network together.
“We need to identify .. corridors where there aren’t areas of high ecological or cultural value and then look at trying to position the trails in those areas,” Mr Sleigh said.
On the visitation aspect, the tourism boss said mountain bikers were a “responsible” and “high-spending” demographic.
“They want to improve the integrity of the mountain and the ecology up there, not destroy it,” he said.
“That’s the part that gets lost, I think, in translation; people just think they want to get up there and slog it to death and the reality is it’s absolutely the opposite.”
Andrew Pearson
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
