BUSHWALKERS are worried council is planning to turn a conservation area at Sheldon into a mountain bike precinct, forcing hikers to find other grounds to use.
Redland City Council has proposed to build more tracks at Sheldon’s eastern escarpment that can be used by walkers, cyclists and horses as part of plans to boost the area’s recreational use.
Under the proposal, walkers share tracks with cyclists, causing concern for some bushwalkers worried about safety on slippery slopes.
Redland Bushwalkers Club president Tracy Ryan said she thought bicycles travelling quickly on narrow shared or multi-use tracks could hurt people walking on the rough and rocky terrain.
Cyclists already have a designated path down the mountain, with another bike-only descent proposed.
But walkers say riders do not give way to walkers at times on shared-use and multi-use paths and it is difficult for walkers to move out the of the way of fast-moving riders.
“We have no concerns about other people using this area,” she said.
“(But) it can be unsafe in steep sections with bikes.”
A council spokesperson said council was not proposing to turn the conservation area into a sporting facility.
The plan, which was being finalised for council consideration, had well-designed and environmentally sustainable trails which helped to avoid unapproved trails and jumps being set up in the conservation area, the spokesperson said.
Planners, horse riders, environmentalists, bushwalkers and representatives from peak body Mountain Bike Australia were all included in talks on the tracks hosted by council.
But Ms Ryan said the fact that council had not responded to club members’ concerns about safety and whether or not a steep trail used for endurance training would stay open had fueled speculation that council did not care about bushwalkers.
A series of ramshackle jumps rigged-up on tracks in the escarpment also made bushwalkers believe the conservation area was being turned into a sporting facility like at Redland Bay’s Bayview conservation area, with conservationists also worried about the potential environmental impacts at proposed creek crossings for bikes.
The council spokesperson said the draft trail plan had since been modified to include only one creek crossing, which would include the placement of sandstone steps.
“The proposed trail crossing will be located at a previously cleared crossing point and designed to minimise environmental impacts by ensuring that riders and walkers cross over the water, not through,” the spokesperson said.
“The proposed work will also provide for site rehabilitation with the clearing of identified weeds in the area, including couch, blue billygoat weed, crofton weed and the class three lantana weed.”
The idea of opening conservation areas to activities bike riding and horse riding was started in Queensland by the Campbell Newman government and is opposed by conservationists who argue that bikes cause erosion and horses are vectors for weeds.
They argue the move also undermines the value of conservation land which is supposedly protected for its environmental qualities rather than as a sporting venue.
For more about council’s plans for the eastern escarpment, visit here.
