Mountain bike development in natural areas?

The Darling Downs Environment Council

At risk of going downhill? Can high impact mountain bike trail development in natural areas achieve genuine, sustainable development outcomes?

Guest: Dr. Christine Hosking – who holds a PhD in conservation biology from the University of Queensland and is an honorary fellow of the University. She works in private practice as a conservation planner.

Introduction to the episode:

Sadly, at present, the ideal of authentic sustainable development is more often notable by its absence than its presence; and too often we see unbalanced development decisions, which give priority to short-term, commercial economic valuation of development outcomes, whilst undervaluing or ignoring the environmental, ecological and social values of a place, values which may be damaged by certain types of commercial development.

Such background considerations helped shape a recent heated public debate over recent proposals to develop an extensive set of 'enduro' downhill mountain bike trails in the iconic Redwood Park area of the Toowoomba range escarpment in S.E. Queensland.

The important ecological, community, cultural and heritage values of Redwood Park were perceived by many local citizens as threatened by proposals to build an extensive network of fast, high impact, downhill, mountain bike (HIMB) trails in the Park which would have resulted in up to 30 kilometres of track laid and up to 30 hectares of forest clearance during construction.

A public campaign to save the park from such inappropriate development commenced in early 2021, resulting in public rallies, lobbying of the local Toowoomba Regional Council, and the submission, to the Queensland State government, of almost two thousand E-petitions rejecting the proposals. In early June 2022, it was reported that Toowoomba Regional Council had voted unanimously, for both cultural and environmental reasons, to retract the proposal to build five enduro Mountain Bike tracks through Redwood Park.

But even though Redwood Park has seemingly now been saved from inappropriate cycling development, a number of other, potentially high impact mountain bike trackway proposals in S.E. Queensland are waiting in the wings.

So what can be learned from the history of competing development and valuation claims which decided the ultimate future use of Redwood Park? Can such experience throw light on other potentially inappropriate recreational development proposals in high value natural areas? And more generally, how can future development decisions incorporate a more authentic and balanced view of the various environmental, social as well as economic values which could be affected by proposed developments?

The guest in this podcast episode, Dr Christine Hosking, is well qualified to discuss decision making processes using the values and principles of authentic sustainable development as they apply to the natural world. She trained in conservation biology and has worked as a professional conservation planner, for example, providing information helpful to decision-makers, planners and landholders as they try to improve the ‘ecosystem function’ or biological health of natural places. Christine is also involved in conservation projects at community, local, state, and federal government levels, and has built up considerable knowledge and expertise on the topic of mountain biking and its potential impacts on natural areas in Australia.

SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with time approximate elapsed

General introduction to the episode – 1.09

• Redwood Park as a case study of the appropriateness of high impact Mountain Bike (HIMB) development proposals for wildlife rich natural areas - and their public rejection.
• General questions to be asked about proposed HIMB developments in such areas.
• Guest professional background – 5.37
• Guest self-introduction - 6.42
• Some distinctions between HIMB and cycling considered as a positive activity overall - 7.46

A triple bottom line approach to weighing the pros and cons of HIMB development

• Pros and cons of HIMB development from an ecological and environmental perspective – 12.17
• Pros and cons of HIMB development from a social perspective – 19.17
• Pros and cons of HIMB development from a traditional economic perspective - 27.25
• How to achieve a more robust appraisal process for HIMB development proposals – 33.07
• Guest take home summary of ideas – 37.13
• Thanks to guest – 39.40
• Close of episode - 41.14

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED OR RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION

• Dr. Christine Hosking - research publication record
• Environmental Impacts of Mountain Biking in Australia – and excellent portal site full of relevant research findings and news about public response to HIMB nationally and internationally.
• Toowoomba Regional Council – explaining the decision not to progress HIMB in Redwood Park (June 2022)
• Other examples of Mountain Bike trackway proposals or planned development in S.E. Queensland (2022
• Mass tourism and the impacts of overtourism – a recent European research article (2022) and some possible implications for Australia (2021)
• The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept – a brief history and considerations for the concept's valid use (2014) a TBL business perspective (2022) and an example of its use in a planning and policy context in Australia (2016).
• New forms of truly sustainable economic development approaches which factor in TBL.
• The general health benefits of nature connectedness or being in nature.
• Concept of participatory democracy – some examples of the recent use of citizen juries in Australia (2016/2017).
• Australian author Bob Ellis's critique of economic rationalism (2009)

GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Dr Christine Hosking – see publication record

Darling Downs Environment Council (DDEC)

T: 0455 619 454 WEB: E: [e-mail]

Production:

Produced for DDEC by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 25/June/2022. Incidental Music: James Nicholson