Two More Weeks To Have Your Say On Illawarra Mountain Biking Strategy

Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward MP has today announced that the public, community groups and businesses now have an additional two weeks to provide input into the Illawarra Escarpment Mountain Bike Draft Strategy, as the public consultation period is extended until Friday 21st December.

Mr Ward said that there has been good public interest so far, but more submissions are welcome.

“Since the public consultation period opened on the 30th October, we have received a strong response with over 300 submissions,” he said.

“This strategy is hugely important to NPWS and the Illawarra community as it will guide better management of mountain bike use of the escarpment”, he said.

“We’ve had a really good start to the public consultation. We want to allow maximum opportunity for a broad range of submissions from all stakeholders and community groups, so we have made the decision to extend the consultation period by an additional 11 days.

“NPWS encourages anyone to provide a submission; community views are vitally important and will help inform the preparation of a final Illawarra Escarpment Mountain Bike Strategy.

“At the end of the public consultation period on Friday 21st December, NPWS and Wollongong City Council will review all of the feedback and prepare a submissions report, which will then be made available to the public.

“It is important we develop the right strategy - one that has an emphasis on safety, sustainability and gets the balance right in terms of environmental and cultural impacts.

“Now the community has additional time to have their say on this important strategy,” Mr Ward concluded.