CYCLISTS will have their own dedicated cross-country mountain bike track in bushland at Lucas Heights after Sutherland Shire Council and ANSTO reached an agreement allowing the council to build an authorised track in the area.
The move will benefit cyclists not only in the shire but across Sydney, giving them the first dedicated mountain bike track in the metropolitan area.
The council has given in-principle support for the creation of the proposed Mill Creek Conservation Park which will include 18 kilometres of designated mountain bike tracks and five kilometres of designated bushwalking tracks.
Previously, the bike riders accessed land owned by the council, ANSTO and the Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council.
But last July, ANSTO decided to prohibit the use of its land by the mountain bikes and motorbikes.
ANSTO said it would consider lifting the prohibition on mountain bikes if the council and the biking community could provide a management plan.
Under the proposal, the council will provide initial funding of $160,000 to develop the conservation park, with staff to pursue grant funding.
The tracks will be used by all standards of mountain bike riders, from families to professionals.
Signage will be installed around the track network and the more than 40 kilometres of old unauthorised tracks will be returned to bushland.
Motorbikes and other unauthorised motor vehicles will be excluded.
Sutherland Shire Cycling Club vice-president Perren Delacour said the news was great for all Sydney cyclists.
"No one has really known legally whether they can ride out there," he said. "There are no dedicated tracks in Sydney other than about three kilometres in the Royal National Park."
Mr Delacour described it as a "high-quality, super-scenic, natural-technical" trail. "There are ferns and gullies, kangaroos and wallabies and you get to cruise through and enjoy it all," he said.
"And it gives us a safe place to go that is off the roads and away from cars. It will also complement the new BMX and dirt jumps at The Ridge complex.
"We expect it to be open in a couple of months so we just ask cyclists to be patient."
ANSTO has welcomed the decision.
"This is a good step in plans toward the delivery of a new local recreation facility for the community and a new way of sharing the beautiful bushland that surrounds our campus at Lucas Heights," an ANSTO spokesman said.
"We look forward to working with both council and other local stakeholders to progress the plans."
Do you approve of the new conservation area with designated mountain bike and bushwalking tracks?
