Wollongong City Council is considering spending more than $1 million on the next stage of the Cringila Hills mountain bike circuit.
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At Monday's council meeting councillors will vote on whether to spend $1.5 million on Stage 2A of the Cringila Hills plan, which would see the construction of an asphalt pump track and mountain bike skills playground.
Other mountain bike tracks and walking trails are now under construction, while a level playground and car park have been completed.
Council documents state the $1.5 million will also help with "the suitable management of contamination and illegally dumped wastes discovered within the asphalt pump track and mountain bike skills playground during construction".
The price tag will also allow for the design and construction of drainage at the site.
Five tenders were submitted for the project, with council officers recommending Port Kembla firm Diverse Civil Contracting be hired to do the work.
Council had been working on the Cringila Hills Recreation Master Plan for several years.
It was put out on public exhibition in November 2019 and was afterwards further refined before councillors gave it the tick of approval in March 2020.
All-up the entire project - which takes in almost 40 hectares of land off Jarvie Road between Cringila and Berkeley - has been estimated to cost around $5 million, with a third stage to include further car park construction, footpaths and public art.
It is planned the site will become a tourist and recreational attraction.
The mountain bike paths were hoped to be opened by spring but that was pushed back after riders who got onto the site illegally damaged the tracks.
"Every time these paths are damaged by illegal riders it runs the risk of setting the project back," Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said.
The project was also delayed due to a COVID construction shutdown earlier this year.
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