Illawarra Escarpment Mountain Bike Concept Plan
A new concept plan has been developed for the area between Mount Keira and Mount Kembla, and we encourage you to look at the proposal on the project website.
The concept plan identifies a total network of 61 trails, delivering a trail volume of 44 kilometres. The concept follows International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) track standards for design, construction and maintenance.
The network caters for all rider skill levels and a broad range of riding styles. Stacked loops of increasing length and difficulty and highly variable terrain and technical features, such as steep descents, obstacles, bridges and jump lines are part of the proposed network.
Introducing the Advisory Committee
The National Parks and Wildlife Service and Wollongong City Council have established the Illawarra Escarpment Mountain Bike Advisory Group. Membership includes representatives from:
- National Parks and Wildlife Service
- Wollongong City Council
- Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council
- Destination Sydney Surround South
- Office of Sport
- Destination Wollongong
- WaterNSW
- Illawarra Escarpment Alliance
- Illawarra Mountain Bike Alliance
- Trail Care
- National Parks Association
- Sydney Water.
The group's purpose is to identify issues and opportunities, enable consistent collaboration with key stakeholders, provide a channel for community input, ensure project objectives are met, and ensure timely and effective information exchange between stakeholder organisations, the local community, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the council.
Finalising the strategy
The proposed mountain bike trail network between Mount Keira and Mount Kembla outlined in the concept plan will form part of the finalised mountain bike strategy if the planning assessments are supportive. It is expected that other areas identified for mountain bike riding in the draft strategy, excluding Mount Keira, will also be investigated to determine if they should be included in the final strategy.
The planning assessment will include an environmental, cultural heritage and social impact assessment that forms a Review of Environmental Factors report. It is expected that the Review of Environmental Factors with the final design of the mountain bike network will go out on public exhibition for comment later in the year.