Mt Hallowell mountain bike trails ‘second priority’ as council favours trails in revegetated gravel pit

The Shire of Denmark will push ahead with planning for mountain bike trails in a revegetated gravel extraction pit on Turner Road after councillors voted to make its Mt Hallowell trails plan a “second priority”.

Mt Hallowell — an A-class reserve 5km south-west of Denmark — was the subject of a trails network concept plan which generated mixed reviews from the community.

Of the 561 submissions during public questions time, 31 per cent were in support, 68 per cent against and one per cent neutral.

At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Denmark councillors were due to vote on an officer recommendation to abandon the Mt Hallowell plan and consider alternative sites.

Instead, councillors voted unanimously in favour of two alternative motions put forward by Cr Kingsley Gibson which could lead to the development of trails at both sites.

In a report prepared for councillors at Tuesday’s meeting, officers had identified two other sites — Turner Road and McLean Park — which were not initially considered as options.

The Turner Road reserve, more than 5km from the town centre, is a gravel pit that the Shire has been revegetating in sections between 1991 and 2017.

More than 30 people turned out for public question time, including members of the Denmark Mountain Bike Club and Denmark Environment Centre.

Ten-year-old Flynn Devenport — who competes in under-13 State mountain biking competitions — spoke about how great it would be to have the mountain bike trails network at Mt Hallowell.

“People at school are talking about how cool it would be to have the trails there,” he said.

“It’s really a good thing for all the people around WA to come visit and ride.

“It would just be good because it’s got all the stuff we could possibly need.”

Flynn’s mother, Jane, said she also supported the site because it was “an inclusive place”.

“I tremendously support that location as do so many other parents in the area because our kids can access it,” she said.

Fourteen-year-old Jake Drummond, who is also a State mountain bike competitor, said the mountain bike trails would get children out of the house.

“It saddens me, so many people vaping and staying in their rooms gaming,” he said.

“Let’s break the cycle by building a community asset.”

Denmark Mountain Bike Club president Brad Drummond said the alternative sites would not provide the same benefits as Mt Hallowell.

“We don’t believe that the other options mentioned in the report would deliver the same results to the town,” he said.

“Simply ignoring Mt Hallowell’s existing unsanctioned trails resolves nothing for the community and will not be a good outcome of this process in our opinion,” he said.

“The concept plan was written as the fourth stage of an eight-stage process to provide safer and more environmental friendly trails for all trail users.

“All the necessary cultural, flora and fauna surveys were completed for the concept plan and more detailed surveys would be competed in future stages . . . and we trust the process itself to ensure the best outcomes for the environment and community.”

However, DEC’s Bart Lebbing said Mt Hallowell was “a unique area” and again suggested the Turner Road site.

“Mountain biking is fantastic, and we can have a fantastic setup here in Denmark if we combine areas of intensive mountain biking with tour biking,” he said.

“I hope that the councillors will consider the recommendation in this report because it’s needed for kids like Flynn to have places where they can go.”

Mark Parre, a Shire of Denmark revegetation officer, said Mt Hallowell was “pristine habitat”.

“I’ve got a mountain bike, I like riding it and I like to be out in nature but it’s unfortunate that it seems to have come down to this choice of Mt Hallowell,” he said.

“There are so many areas around Denmark where bike trails could be made … for exactly the type of experience you want to have.”

After public question time, Cr Nathan Devenport declared a financial interest due to his mountain bike business and Cr Donna Carmen declared an impartiality interest due to being a past employee of the DEC.

Cr Gibson’s first alternative motion requested the development of a project plan for mountain bike trails on the Turner Road Site, with a report to be prepared council’s consideration by March 2023.

The motion requested the chief executive form a trails working group to provide advice on trails development within the Shire.

Cr Gibson’s first motion also called for the creation of a trails network map or electronic equivalent, to provide cost estimates for the installation of signage for major trials and to build collaborations with trail user-groups to maintain and improve trails.

Cr Gibson’s second alternative motion requested the chief executive officer, as a second priority, “continue the eight-stage process at Mt Hallowell to progress trails development in the project area identified . . . excluding that area which includes ‘the core’.”

The motion stated the development should include “at least one ‘green’ mountain bike trail” and be subject to several conditions including an updated Mt Hallowell Management Plan, endorsed by council.

The Mt Hallowell development would also be subject to the completion of flora and fauna studies of the subject site, including dieback assessment, cultural surveys, obtaining relevant licenses and permits and lodgement of a development application.

Cr Gibson said he intended the development area to be “roughly the same” as the original Mt Hallowell site proposal of 23ha — before it was increased to 68ha to allow for the construction of short-loop cross-country trails.

The motion stated that the development would avoid “the core” of Mt Hallowell, which is an area of high-biodiversity value in the centre of the reserve.

Cr Gibson said the motion meant the Mt Hallowell concept plan would not be completely lost.

“I still think there is a significant gap in opportunity for youth and family-friendly mountain biking and Mt Hallowell really is a site that provides that while the Turner Road site doesn’t,” he said.

“What strikes me is that (Mt Hallowell) is the site where people have been building unauthorised mountain bike trials and walking trails, people are not building them at Turner Road. I think we are largely looking at a site that already has trails on it.“

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of both motions.