Destination Wollongong has engaged Dirt Art, a world leader in mountain bike and recreational trail design, to explore the mountain’s potential – and the early signs are good. 

A team of designers and construction experts had their first look at the site during a visit to Mount Keira on Monday.

Although planning is in its preliminary stages, Dirt Art director Simon French described Mount Keira as “something really unique and exciting”.

“It’s an unusual site, in a good way,” Mr French told the Mercury.

“It’s very rare that you get that amount of vertical elevation so close to a major city.

“It’s close to Wollongong and being as close as it is to Sydney it’s a major mountain bike opportunity.”

Mr French said Mount Keira had plenty of tourism potential and the vertical elevation held it in good stead. 

“As we say to a lot of our clients, there’s a lot you can do with a site but you can't make it any taller, so having that ... is a really great starting point,” he said. 

More broadly, Mr French said there was “significant potential for more mountain bike trail development”  across the escarpment.

Dirt Art has been involved in a number of large mountain bike developments across Australia and is currently working to build the track for next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

The company plans to consult with a number of stakeholders –  including from land management, environmental and cultural heritage sectors – as it works to form an overall vision for mountain biking on the escarpment.

Illawarra mountain bike groups would also be engaged in the process.

The Dirt Art team spent about half a day looking at Mount Keira on Monday and plan to return in the next month for a more detailed look across the escarpment. 

Mr French said that assessment would influence the first stage of planning work, with a report expected in about two months.

The development of the site was about finding a point of difference so it could “stand out as a mountain bike destination”, while ensuring there were minimal environmental and cultural heritage impacts, Mr French said.

“Mount Keira’s certainly got lots and lots of scope to do something really unique and exciting,” he said.

The planning comes after the Mercury revealed exclusively last month that the NSW government would give Wollongong City Council $635,000 for upgrades to the Mount Keira Summit Park.

A portion of the money, which has been made available through the government’s tourism demand-driver infrastructure program, was to be directed towards a feasibility study for mountain bike trails in the area.

Destination Wollongong general manager Mark Sleigh described the funding injection as a “no-brainer”.