The City of Cockburn's response to the Fremantle Herald about the Manning Park mountain bike trails concept plan, 18.6.20 -
Question: What has your role or involvement been within the Manning Park Mountain Bike Trail project?
Answer: I am the City’s Environmental Manager and was responsible for the development of the Manning Park Master Plan. The master plan identified the need for properly designed mountain bike trails in the park to help minimise the destruction of bushland currently taking place due to the construction of unsanctioned poorly designed mountain bike trails. The development of a mountain bike concept plan was an action from the Manning Park Master Plan.
It must be remembered that this is a concept plan and the City will take feedback from the community in relation to any future trails design should the trails proceed.
Question: As the environmental manager, could you explain how the proposed trail network aligns specifically with the ‘Bush Forever’ policy?
Answer: A majority of the trails identified in the concept are existing trails that have been constructed without permission. Making a few existing trails more sustainable and well designed and closing down and revegetating others will be of benefit to the environment.
Question: How is it not illegal to be building 15kms of bike paths through an area marked for conservation, under the 2006 Beeliar Regional Park Management Plan?
Answer: A majority of the trails already exist and have been constructed by mountain bikers without permission. The Beeliar Regional Park Community Advisory Committee was consulted as part of the development of the Manning Park Master Plan. Representatives from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions where on the mountain bike concept plan steering committee and the Perth Peel Mountain Bike Master Plan.
Question: Residents have told the Herald that they were under the impression that the project would constrained to the northern quarry. At what point in the last five years was it disclosed to the public that this was not the case?
Answer: The Manning Park Master Plan identifies both quarries with loop trails linking them.
Question: Why has the research methodology used by Common Ground, to obtain the 2015 survey results, not been publicly disclosed?
Answer: The development of trails is a recommendation of the Manning Park Master Plan, which was adopted in 2018. This Master Plan was developed based on consultation with the community and key stakeholders. The process highlighted strong support for signed mountain bike trails and was subsequently included as an action in the Manning Park Master Plan. The draft Master Plan was then advertised to the public for comment. The adopted Master Plan is publicly available both on the City of Cockburn website and Comment on Cockburn website.
However, the idea of Manning Park containing formalised mountain bike trails stems all the way back to 2013, when the need for mountain bike trails in Cockburn was identified in the Trails Master Plan. Manning Park was then highlighted as a potential Mountain Bike Trail in the Perth Peel Mountain Bike Master Plan in 2017. This document is publicly available
online at Westcycle.
In order to develop a mountain bike trail network it was important to consult both mountain bike riders and the general community. The City invited feedback via a survey, and this was promoted in a number of a ways including letters to adjacent residents. Over 290 respondents were from City of Cockburn. The idea of mountain bike trails was strongly supported in the feedback. This process is communicated on the project page for the draft concept design, where the City is seeking feedback from the community on the draft
here.
Question: How objective was the methodology used by Common Ground Consultants to obtain the 2015 survey results?
Answer: Please refer to Q5
Question: Do you believe the demographics of the 2015 survey respondents are an accurate reflection of the Cockburn community?
Answer: Please refer to Q5
Question: What safety considerations will be put in place to protect path users, where the biking and walking paths intersect?
Answer: Should the trails proceed, this will be addressed in the detailed design.
Question: Conservationists have told the Herald that Carnaby cockatoos and quendas are prominent in Manning Park. How concerned are you for the safety and protection of Carnaby cockatoos and quendas?
Answer: Very. That is the whole idea of this concept plan, to stop the destruction of the natural environment that is occurring via unsanctioned mountain bike trail construction.