The National Slopestyle Championships was held at Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Park west of Albion Park. Photo: Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Park.
Shellharbour City Council has put Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Park on the path to permanence, with plans to rezone land at Tongarra ensuring the future of the 1500-member club and one of Australia’s top mountain biking destinations.
Councillors unanimously voted to prepare a planning proposal to amend the Shellharbour Local Environment Plan to allow Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Park to operate on the site on a permanent basis.
Located on the Illawarra Highway at Tongarra, west of Albion Park, the current development consent to operate on the land was set to expire in December this year and would leave 1500 riders without a facility.
However, the amendment will allow it to operate as a “recreational facility” on part of the subject site.
Councillors voted to prepare a planning proposal and submit it to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for approval.
Moved by Cr Kellie Marsh and seconded by Cr Rob Petreski, both praised what operator Nick Haertsch had been able to achieve and acknowledged the facility’s importance for community recreation and potential tourism opportunities.
“It’s very important that we have a range of activities in our city, and also things that will provide tourism opportunities to assist local business,” Cr Marsh said.
“To amend this Shellharbor Local Environmental Plan to allow existing mountain bike facilities so they can operate on a permanent basis is a good thing for our community.
“This is a growing sport.
“We heard from the resident earlier, the numbers that he gets through this business is absolutely amazing, let alone what can be done if this is done permanently.”
She said emergency services, including the Rural Fire Service and Fire Rescue New South Wales, had raised no objections to the permanent establishment of the bike track, giving her confidence to support it.
Cr Petreski said he wanted to thank Mr Haertsch for creating a club that was 1500-strong, which was one of the largest in the country.
“They did say that it wasn’t just about having the facility,” he said.
“They also had training, and their training was actually modelled around the rest of the country. So they’re doing a good job.
“Putting this proposal forward formalises the operation that’s already there, so I think, in a way, it’s housekeeping, to an extent.”
He said the decision to support it ensured legal compliance for the not-for-profit organisation and provided certainty for the Illawarra mountain biking community.
The motion passed unanimously, signaling strong council support for the facility.
Mr Haertsch has spent the past five years pushing for slopestyle mountain biking to be recognised as a discipline, alongside endurance riding and cyclecross.
