Bike park site considered

ON YOUR bikes! The Borough of Queenscliffe has endorsed a project investigation framework for the development of a new bike park.

The next step – or jump – will be a formal investigation into the feasibility of locating the park next to the current skate park in Point Lonsdale, which has community and relevant authority support.

The work will also involve looking for an alternate location for the CFA satellite station which is currently located on the site.

In July 2020, the council closed a number of informal bike tracks to protect sensitive vegetation from damage.

In response to the interest in a local bike park, the council started community consultation on a bike park proposal for the old high school site in Flinders Street, Queenscliff.

Council officers presented this site based on advice from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning which had recommended three potential sites: Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve, land adjacent to the Point Lonsdale-Queenscliff Yacht Club on Swan Bay and the former High School site.

Submissions to the consultation closed in February, with 488 online responses and 71 written submissions on the proposal.

More than half the responses were supportive of the old high school site, but a group strongly opposed the location, and there was generally strong support for a bike park next to the existing skate park at 240 Point Lonsdale Road, Point Lonsdale.

Following the council resolution, DELWP advised it would support an investigation into the feasibility of locating the bike park in an area adjacent to the current skate park in Point Lonsdale, provided the CFA satellite relocation and a vegetation audit were included.

The council will now engage a consultant to prepare a vegetation audit of the land surrounding the CFA building and the skate park and is in discussion with the CFA regarding potential satellite sites.

A final concept design for the bike park is proposed to go out for community consultation in December 2021.