Mt Hallowell Concept Plan: Commenting closes soon!

To our much appreciated members and supporters,

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (in which case – we envy you!), you would know the Mount Hallowell Trail Concept Plan has been out for community consultation for a few weeks now. What you might not know is that the deadline for submissions is 4pm Monday 1st August. Even if you’ve already sent through a submission (well done!) keep reading to see what else you can do to help make the plan a reality. 

If you haven’t yet sent a submission (not the poll!) then this is what you need to do to make your voice heard:

1. Head over to the Your Denmark page
2. Click the Provide Your Comment button
3. Sign in (or Register if visiting for the first time, it only takes a minute)
4. Provide your Comment
   1. Select the Mount Hallowell Trails Concept Plan
   2. Add a comment (see below for some ideas)
   3. Hit Submit

Note:  If you prefer you can email at enquiries@denmark.wa.gov.au or you can write to the Denmark Shire at PO Box 183 Denmark WA 6333.

And that’s it! You’ve done your bit to let the shire know what these trails becoming a reality means to our community. 

Unless… you want to do even more! In which case you can do any of the following:

• Forward this post to other people you know are passionate about recreation and the outdoors
• SMS a link to this email (https://www.denmarkmtb.com.au/?p=71)
• Share a link to this email on your socials
• Post a link to this email on any Facebook groups you’re in
• …
• The sky’s the limit!

What to write in the comment of your submission

We don’t want to supply you with a copy & paste template to fill in because we don’t think that’s the correct way to go about this. What’s important here is that you write what the proposed trails mean to you, to your family and to our community – from your perspective.

However, just to give you some starting ideas and to spruce up your creativity here are some ideas:

• We don’t have any sanctioned MTB trails in Denmark, the closest one being 50km away. In the whole Great Southern region there is only 1km of sanctioned trails
• There are already unsanctioned trails being used in the area proposed for the concept plan, however having them developed professionally will allow them to be:
  • More safe by dividing the pedestrians from riders and being properly signed and graded so riders know what to expect
  • More environmentally friendly by ensuring they are built with erosion, flora and fauna taken into account and easily accessible by bike
  • More maintainable with proper construction and a commitment by the club to help with the ongoing maintenance
  • More family friendly with grades of trail designed for all skill levels
  • More fun with properly designed features and a skills area to get the most out of riding
• It is a very accessible site, with cycle paths leading to the proposed trails, which encourages people to ride and allows young people to make their own way to the trails. Also, bikes are an environmentally friendly form of transport. The more people that ride bikes for recreation the more likely they are also to ride them for transport
• Over several years, Outdoors Great Southern Pty Ltd in partnership with all the Local councils in the Great Southern created the Great Southern Regional Trails Master Plan (2020), which reviewed potential locations for walking, kayaking and cycle trails and prioritised them based on suitability, prompting the use of opens spaces across the Great Southern. During a design selection, Mount Hallowell was the only site in the Denmark Shire that met all the criteria. This original plan was put to the local community for consultation in 2020, which received strong support to create the concept plan and transition into the second round of community consultation.
• The area for walking and cycle trails that has been proposed at Mt Hallowell has been surveyed to ensure conservation and cultural values of the area are maintained:
  • Vertebrate Fauna Assessment (October 2020)
  • Flora and Vegetation Survey (October 2020)
  • Phytophthora Dieback Survey (February 2021)
  • Aboriginal Heritage Survey (February 2022)
• More detailed surveys will be completed in Stage 5 if the Concept Plan is approved. “Trails allow Denmark residents and visitors to enjoy passive recreational pursuits without contributing to the decline of the conservation values of the reserve” Mount Hallowell Management Plan (2008)

• The more that people engage with the environment in a safe/sustainable way the more they want to protect it. It is well documented that professionally constructed trails encourage more people to develop a connection to the open spaces such as the Mt Hallowell landscape. 
• The proposed walking and cycle trails are to be constructed utilising the best industry practice standards by highly skilled professional trail builders, as demonstrated at multiple sensitive areas across the state of Western Australia and globally. The trail design and construction ethos incorporates design features which limits erosion, no trees over 10cm in diameter will be removed and the trail network will be routed to not adversely impact on priority species. The Denmark Shire concept plan envisages constructed walking and cycle trails that have no more impact on the surrounding area than the current existing trail network in the Mt Hallowell area.

Stay awesome and see you soon!

Denmark MTB Club Committee