Ceremony brings everyone together for start of construction on Eden's mountain bike trails

It marked the start of construction of stage 1 of the Eden Mountain Bike Hub project which in 12 months time will see 56km of mountain bike trails completed.

The event began with a traditional Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony conducted by traditional owner, Uncle BJ Cruse and Twofold Aboriginal Corporation's Nathan Lygon. Official guests included member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain and Bega Valley Shire Councillor Joy Robin.

Eden Mountain Bike Club president Stan Soroka said the event was a fitting way to demonstrate the important relationship between the club, the traditional owners of the land and Forestry Corporation of NSW.

It has been a project several years in the making Mr Soroka said.

"This will be a wonderful addition to the town and its tourism offering," he said.

"It's been about addressing the need, both economic and social."

But there has also been a very strong focus on including traditional owners and respecting the environment.

"We very much want to start out as we plan to continue, being respectful to this beautiful country and encouraging all those who visit and ride here to nurture the land and the new trails," Mr Soroka said.

It was something that sat well with Forestry Corporation NSW partnership leader Brendan Grimson who said that after a meeting in the local office, "right from the start it was a pretty easy project to support".

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"We wanted to celebrate the traditional owners and land management," Mr Grimson said.

He said that during lockdowns access to the forests had increased with benefits from physical exercise and to mental health.

Newly re-elected member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain has been a supporter of the project from the early days and said it was a "momentous occasion".

Ms McBain said the trails would be additional attractions to bring people to the area, "in addition to the natural elements that bring people to our area today".

She acknowledged the advocacy and support of the previous member for Bega Andrew Constance .

"We all recognised the start of something magnificent."

But she said the bushfires changed the way people thought about their communities.

Ms McBain said it was an appropriate place to hold the ceremony because RFS volunteers stopped the bushfire just metres away.

Cr Joy Robin thanked those who promoted and fought for the project.

"Thank you to the original people with the dream. These are the passionate people of our community," Cr Robin said.

Mr Grimson said the positive physical and mental health benefits that would be an outcome of the project were a key feature which could not be overstated.

"The location of trails and key infrastructure has been designed based on community feedback on the most suitable location. The highly passionate and hardworking club has been instrumental in the trail network's success to date," he said.

Contour Works was appointed in late April to construct the trails which were designed by World Trail.

Contour Works director, Ryan De La Rue said the ceremony was a great way for his crew to connect with the area and its people before work begins.

Mr De La Rue said work over the next few months will focus construction of beginner trails around the trailhead and easier descending trails.

Some of that work, particularly in culturally sensitive areas will be sub-contracted to experienced local trail builders Creative Lines.

Craig Stonestreet of Natural Trails is the project manager and said while it had been a long process to get to this point, "the area was going to become a bit of a Mecca for mountain biking and tourism".

He said they looked to minimise the impact on the flora and fauna and added that the Local Aboriginal Land Councils had been engaged throughout.

Mr Soroka said it was good timing because the ground was wet and that meant it was easier to see the water flows or springs and ensure they were managed.

Yully Forest director of Creative Lines said they would have a a 1.7 tonne excavator and a ground crew working with hand tools to shape the trails.

"We will be building certain sections and working on any areas that are classified as culturally sensitive," Mr Forest said.

The company is currently finishing the design phase of the Bundian Way and has been involved in the upgrade of the Pinnacles Loop, working in sandstone and building two new lookouts, a platform and significant viewing bay as well as resurfacing 300m of trail on the loop.

Eden Community Access Centre and the Eden Trails Group, comprising members of the Eden Mountain Bike Club is the community-based project team responsible for the vision and strategic direction of the project.

The project is funded by the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Fund which is jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments under the disaster recovery funding arrangements.

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