ENVIRONMENTAL groups are in uproar after Cockburn council prolonged Mountain Bike riding in Manning Park despite a Commonwealth declaration that a shrubland on its ridge is “critically endangered”.
The battle between mountain bike riders, trail runners and conservation groups over the park’s estimated 15 kilometres of unauthorised trails has waged for years, and Tuesday’s council meeting had a packed gallery.
Council staff had been asked to survey the park’s environment and heritage after the size of a proposed formalised mountain bike trail caused an uproar in 2022, but at Tuesday’s meeting they came back and recommended banning bikes outright.
The federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water had singled out Manning Park in an advice document it released when declaring the ridge’s honeymyrtle shrubland endangered.
The park has the largest remaining area of honeymyrtle in the Perth region.
“…Manning Park in the City of Cockburn has substantial impacts attributed to mountain bike trails,” the department said.
While noting the desire to formalise some trails to control the damage, the department said even professionally-built versions “increase fragmentation, reinforce degradation process, increase the totally degraded area and reduce biodiversity”.
Council staff said on the basis of that advice, “obtaining an approval would be very unlikely”.
However councillor Tom Widenbar moved an alternative recommendation to defer any decision on closing the trails until they had been audited, mapped and a closure plan had been drafted.
“We have identified the environmental and heritage values but need to understand what existing disturbance there is in the area to then be able to determine on a case-by-case basis which trails can be left open, what should be revegetated and what uses are suitable on each trail,” Cr Widenbar said.
Mammoth
A mammoth public question time and delegations, which stretched out to nearly two hours, was dominated by the issue.
Friends of Manning Park Ridge member Megan Jaceglav described mountain biking and trail running as “niche activities”.
“Our lives do not depend on, and are not seriously impaired, by whether we can ride a bike or run a loop in one particular place or not,” Dr Jaceglav said.
“What are the very high stakes here are the lives and futures of the endangered animals and critically endangered floristic communities who live here, for whom this precious Tamala limestone ridge is home, and has always been home.”
Environmental lawyer Hugh Finn pointed out that the council’s own local laws banned bikes from the park already.
“The decision by the council to exclude mountain bikes from bushland areas in Manning Park is thus a decision about whether the City should enforce an existing local law,” he said.
Acting CEO Daniel Arndt concurred: “The issue is that if council endorses the use of mountain bikes in Manning Park, you would technically be in breach of the local law,” he said.
But Clint Slomp from the Manning Park Trail Runners said banning his members and the mountain bikers would disrupt many lives.
“The trail runners group now has over 3500 members,” he said.
“On Thursdays alone we have up to 150 people joining our weekly running and hiking sessions out on the trails.
“The Manning Park Mountain Bikers Group, with 1300 members of all ages, brings together individuals who connect through casual rides and share community support and information about the trails.
“What unites both groups is a love for the outdoors, a commitment to promoting mental and physical health and a strong sense of community.
“We have all seen the level of community uproar that was created though the initial proposal of mountain bike trails; the reality of following the proposed recommendations of closing the unsanctioned trails to users, who have been in the park for many years, would absolutely cause further upset in the community.
by STEVE GRANT