Redland Bay to get upgraded horse and bike track

Redland council tentatively agreed to set aside $948,011 to be spent over three years on facilities for day trippers and large events, two new trails, two car parks, track signs, maps and annual maintenance.

However, the final decision will be made by the next council during budget deliberations.

The Redland Bay park, known as the Bayview Conservation Area, has 17 main trails covering more than 20km for walking, and mountain bike riding.

It also has 22.5km of trails that will be shared by horse riders, walkers and mountain bike riders.

Trails are for beginners and there are others for those who like a bit more of a challenge.

Residents of German Church Road said they were glad the park was upgraded as their section of the road was finally covered with bitumen after lodging requests to council for more than 20 years.

The local councillor, Cr Julie Talty, said funding for the park was unrelated to getting the road upgraded and sealed.

She said funding for the two types of works came from different council reserves.

“All expenditure is subject to a test of expenditure verses public benefit,” she said.

“It is important to note that last week’s council decision to get an update on the progress of the BCA project, does not make any commitments in terms of funding. 

“It provides a plan and estimated costs, with this funding to be considered during future budget deliberations and, as such, this will be a decision for the next council to decide.”

She said German Church Road was professionally assessed in 2011 with officers concluding that the best option was to limit the dust and impacts by closing the road.

Since the 2012 election, Cr Talty said council had substantially increased roads expenditure and introduced the Southern Road Sealing Program which funded the German Church Road upgrade. 

Mayor Karen Williams said she hoped Redlands would cash in on its natural beauty and become a number one tourist spot for "back-to-nature" experiences.

She said the Bayview Conservation area would be an integral part of the strategy to attract more environmental visitors to the area to use the city's world-class trails and tracks and water facilities.

While in Redlands, she said, visitors would be able to enjoy environmentally-friendly activities such as kayaking, mountain biking, walking and horse riding.

The city's trails and tracks will be mapped and details put online. Many, including the one at Redland Bay, would be upgraded as part of the visitor strategy. 

"We have some excellent mountain bike tracks in the city that have been used for national competition and we hope they will be considered as training grounds for the Commonwealth Games in 2018," Cr Williams said.

"This is designed to allow us to celebrate Redlands biodiversity and our wonderful environmental land that we have but at the same time as appreciating it, to use it for recreation.

"We want people to come here and experience the tourism aspects of our environmental assets."

Redland environmentalist and head of the Eprapah Creek Catchment Landcare Association Lynn Roberts said the council had ignored existing users of Bayview Conservation Area including a botany study group, which holds monthly walks in the reserves.

”These uses are incompatible with the level of bike use that is envisaged in the council report,” she said.

“The flora and fauna in the Bayview Conservation Area are of great value and there are plant species listed as vulnerable and most of it is endangered regional ecosystems.

“The tracks will impact on the vegetation and encourage overuse of the area. Is there nowhere in the Redlands that animals can be safe from disturbance?”

She said the size of the proposal was “silly” and there was no need for camping facilities at the site, which can be traversed within 30minutes.

She said she believed it would grow as a spot for illicit drug taking and for youngsters to drink as evident from the report’s $74,000 bill for repairs at the site.