Those of you who read the Canberra Times would have discovered today that a downhill bike track was being built in the Arboretum (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/mountain-bike-trails-returning-to-the-national-arboretum-20170525-gwdjo5.html) (https://www.facebook.com/pg/kowalskitrailworks/posts/?ref=page_internal). The ACT Equestrian Association and the Bicentennial National Trail Section Coordinator, Jenny Costin, found out about this when the Chair of the Government Paddocks User Group shared an email that had emanated from the Community Engagement Officer at the Arboretum although most of the text if from the Kowalskis own website.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of the Kowalski Brothers Trailworks (an award winning local trail building group) as the official trail building group to the National Arboretum. This community partnership will see the Kowalskis lead the development of volunteer-built trails throughout the Arboretum precinct for the enjoyment of walkers, runners and mountain bike riders alike.
Over the next 5 years, approximately 25km of trail will be built in accordance with the Arboretum’s Trails Concept Plan. Work begin in late May 2017. If you would like to volunteer and be part of this exciting community initiative, please contact the Kowalski Brothers
We were on this like a shot and on 19 May we met with the Arboretum’s Executive Manager and Project Offer at the car park near the Cork Oaks. You can imagine we were pretty angry about the total lack of consultation. At this meeting, we discussed this planned track for the first time as it is not consistent with earlier plans for a walking track in the same place. The Arboretum insists this track is a walking and cycling track but it is hard to imagine too many walkers are going to want to share it with bikes. Noone seemed to have thought that having a downhill track ending in a carpark would be a problem for drivers, cyclists or horse riders using the Cork Oaks to access the Arboretum.
The upshot of our time at the carpark is a number of actions to remove any danger to horses and riders as follows:
- The old cavaletti from the Cork Oaks into the carpark will be moved along the fence line onto the grassy area eastward of the carpark
- The largely unmarked line of the BNT will then be though the grass and trees, across the access road and into the plantations
- The connection point at the Himalayan Pines path will remain exactly the same as it is at the moment
- We have been assured that the BNT path through the Pines will not be part of the new bike path which connects up with an existing trail to the picnic area in the Pines.
We also pointed out that the boundary fire trail to the right of the cavaletti is a popular canter hill and appears on the new Arboretum Equestrian Trails map. To get to it under the new arrangement will mean crossing the bike track. The Project Officer claims she has a solution to this problem. The Arboretum is preparing a map/plan showing the new configuration that we can distribute to the equestrian community but it probably won’t be finalised until Friday 2 June.
Work began on the new trail this past weekend. (https://www.facebook.com/kowalskitrailworks/photos/a.238088086304347.54335.236190499827439/1265307633582382/?type=3&theater. Apparently, the Kowalski Brothers have to get clearance from the Arboretum for each working bee and we are informed that a date has not yet been set for the next one. In the meantime the track will be closed and bunted off.
One outcome of all this is probably a good one for horse riders. As the Arboretum becomes more popular the carpark is getting busier and there is a danger that people will park their cars in front of the cavaletti or do something stupid around horses. Under the new arrangement this can’t happen and riders do not have to traverse a carpark to get to the BNT route. There will be good sight lines at the road crossing point.
In the process of this meeting, ACTEA and the BNT Coordinator discovered the existence of a three year old Recreational Trails Concept Plan which is a great cause for concern for the long term equestrian enjoyment of the Arboretum. The present management of the Arboretum claim to be unaware that this Concept Plan had never been discussed with ACTEA. After a meeting with Arboretum staff on 24 May, the Concept Plan, which we are assured remains a draft, has gone back to the original designer to be made more compatible with the recently prepared Equestrian Trails map. The next step in that consultation process could be several months away.