Page 4935 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 November 2017
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well-managed resource. There are many opportunities for this, such as other parts of Kowen Forest or certain areas out in the Cotter and Uriarra regions.
To conclude, I urge all members to support this motion. It asks the government to ensure a successful and viable future for recreational trails in the ACT and to recognise they have value in a whole range of ways. It asks the government to find ways to preserve the existing trails before they are destroyed by logging, with their true value never even being recognised. It also asks for a positive, forward-looking cycling strategy, to ensure that we are taking advantage of the excellent assets we already have, as well as finding new opportunities. I think this will have great benefits for Canberra and the community long into the future, and I commend my motion to the Assembly.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (3.41): The government will be supporting the motion with a minor amendment. I move:
Omit paragraph (2)(c), substitute:
“(c) produce an ACT Cycling Tourism Strategy that covers all cycling disciplines, including mountain biking. The strategy should be financially, socially and environmentally sustainable, be developed in consultation with community interest groups, and outline how government, the private sector and community groups can work together to create a cycling destination with world-class trails and urban cycleways;”.
The ACT protects more of its bushland than any other Australian state or territory. Over 66 per cent of the territory’s 236,000 hectares is reserved to ensure that our unique natural, cultural and recreational heritage is protected for the benefit of all. If we include our pine forest plantations, that figure jumps to almost 70 per cent.
It is also true that the ACT community has unmatched access to some of the most scenic and rare landscapes in the country. Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve are part of the Australian Alps National Parks, a network of protected area that stretches from Mt Baw Baw in Victoria’s Gippsland all the way along the roof of eastern Australia to Namadgi and Tidbinbilla in the ACT. In a warming climate, the protection of our alpine areas takes on fundamental importance, remembering that these areas provide us with the water we need to survive. Our small jurisdiction is also entrusted with the preservation of the largest patch of nationally endangered yellow box woodland in public hands and the largest patches of temperate native grassland left in Australia.
The challenge for our land managers is to protect these special areas but not to lock them up. After all, parks are for people as much as they are for the environment. The motion before us today is essentially about recreational access and the value one particular segment of the community rightfully places on access to mountain bike trails. I will share with the Assembly some pertinent facts related to recreational opportunity in Canberra’s green space areas.
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