On Thursday, February 25, Orange City Council held a public forum to provide information about the progress of the environmental assessment being conducted in the Mount Canobolas State Conservation Area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The purpose of the assessment is to determine the environmental feasibility of the construction of mountain bike trails within the Mount Canobolas SCA.
The large crowd attending the forum is indicative of how important the area is to the people of Orange.
Concern about protecting the mountain was reflected in the questions asked. Many questions were about consideration of alternate sites, how to protect sensitive areas, and the necessity to consider information available from local naturalists and scientists.
There were questions asked about how the track was to be designed and how such issues of erosion could be avoided.
When asked about their response to the forum, some attendees said they would have liked more detail in the responses to their questions, and some questioned the methodology employed by the consultants, stating that a preferred approach would be to complete a constraints analysis well before considering any trail construction.
We must keep in mind that the purpose of the environmental assessment is to determine whether a mountain bike track can be constructed within the Mount Canobolas SCA without causing irreversible damage. It is not to justify the coexistence of mountain biking and sensitive environmental areas.
The forum received reassurance from Mayor Kidd that the mountain bike trails were not a "fait accompli". We were further reassured by Orange City Council CEO David Waddell that if the environmental assessment found that the construction of mountain bike trails would cause unacceptable environmental damage, any further consideration of mountain bike trails on Mount Canobolas would be abandoned.
Mr Waddell informed the meeting that due process would be followed, which would allow for public display and comment on the environmental assessment, including future forums at the appropriate stages in the process.
We thank Orange City Council and the consultancy panel for providing this forum. It is important for democracy at local government level that such events are conducted.
It was evident that more questions need to be asked and more answers given if a successful outcome for the protection of the mountain is to be achieved.
