Tasmania’s West Coast Council continues to deliver mountain bike trails

West Coast Council has opened its newly constructed Mt Owen Mountain Bike Trails to the public in Queenstown - with all remaining mountain trails to come on-line as completed.

The opening of Mt Owen Mountain Bike Trails comes after years of detailed planning by the West Coast Council, extensive community and stakeholder input and with generous financial assistance from both the Commonwealth and Tasmania Governments.

On top of that, the Planning Permit process for the next major Mountain Bike Trail (MTB) Trail Network to be built in the region (in the Heemskirk Range just outside Zeehan) is nearing completion - with construction slated to begin shortly, after all approvals are obtained.

West Coast Council is determined to follow the strategic priorities identified with the community in the last few years, and to work further with a range of stakeholders on additional MTB Trail options.

In 2020 Council commissioned the development of a draft Report that would identify further options for future trail concepts catering to a broad market of riders, with a focus on creating highly appealing, iconic riding experiences to attract MTB enthusiasts and families.

A series of concepts and ideas spread across the entire region have now been identified by renowned MTB experts Dirt Art Pty Ltd.

The goal being to ultimately create a nationally significant and extensive MTB offering for visiting riders to the stunning West Coast region - designed to appeal to locals and visiting riders, and therefore grow the economic development outcomes in the region by adding further hero trail experiences.

Dirt Art’s draft Report is now being presented to the public and other stakeholders as part of a three week consultation exercise.

West Coast Council Acting Mayor Shane Pitt notes “the draft ‘Concept Plan - West Coast Town to Town Trail Opportunities’ document being presented is well-researched and builds on the previous strategic work done by the West Coast Council on behalf of the community.

“It was presented in June to the West Coast MTB Reference Group and further refined to be ready to go out to the public for comment. Everyone should note that the draft Report It is a start point for the community and other stakeholders to engage on, it is not the final definitive approach, nor does it contain final trail designs.

“Much more design work and consultation would be needed before we got to build any of these new trails.  Rather, this Concept Report is a broad outline of concepts and themes that are based on in-depth research and advice to date and when adopted will form the basis for further research, investigations and funding requests. I encourage the community to have their say on the strategic opportunities identified. The Council wants to get the approach right for the community, in order to fully reap the benefits of the potential increase in tourism visitation to the region, and to provide world class infrastructure for locals to enjoy in the future also.”

The West Coast Council invites the community and all relevant stakeholders to read and provide comment on the document. It can be found here.

Specific answers to commonly asked questions can also be found here.

Please provide your comments by 5pm Friday 30th July 2021 via email to mtbproject@westcoast.tas.gov.au 

Image top:Courtesy Dirt Art; image above: Cover of report draft prepared by Dirt Art Pty Ltd; for the West Coast Council.