Creating mountain bike trails in the conservation area on Mount Canobolas will lead to several species of plants and animals being made extinct, an environmental alliance has warned.
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The Canobolas Conservation Alliance has prepared a report into the consequences of creating a mountain bike park on the mountain.
CCA president Dr Colin Bower said it would be 'impossible' to establish a mountain bike track in the State Conservation Area on Mount Canobolas without seriously harming the environment.
You will definitely have extinctions
- Dr Andrew Rawson, Canobolas Conservation Alliance
Dr Bower said there were three species and four communities already listed as being so rare any disturbance would lead to 'serious and irreversible impact.' He said 13 other species, including plants, eucalypts and worms which only occurred in the conservation area would face the same level of impact.
"This nature conservation reserve is the most important in the region and one of the most important in NSW," he said.
"It deserves the highest level of protection from unsympathetic development.
"It is undeniable that Orange City Council's proposal for an international standard mountain biking competition centre is totally inappropriate."
CCA Vice-president Dr Andrew Rawson said the report would be presented to a mountain bike community forum organised by Orange City Council at the Civic Theatre next Thursday, February 25.
Dr Rawson said the mountain bike trails would fragment the conservation area leading to harm and death for many species.
"You will definitely have extinctions," he said.
"The key point is that it is just the conservation area which is the critical area."
Dr Rawson said construction and use of the tracks would damage the environment, cause erosion and see pests and disease inadvertently brought into the area.
"It is not just the tracks themselves. The tracks become a barrier, a boundary for species.
"It compresses the soil, it changes the environment."
Dr Rawson said the bike park proposal should be relocated away from the sensitive conservation area on the top of the mountain to forest areas on the southern and western slopes.
"It will still be on the slopes of the mountain, it's just not in the conservation area coming down from the summit. On the slope would be perfectly acceptable [to riders]," he said.
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David Fitzsimons
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
