Environmental groups to lobby Toowoomba Regional Council to stop mountain biking plan through Redwood Park

The Toowoomba Regional Council faces opposition against its mountain biking master plan, which partly runs through a delicate ecosystem.

BUTTERFLY WALK: Hugh Krenske from Friends of the Escarpment Parks. Photo Bev Lacey / The Chronicle

Toowoomba’s top ecological and conservation groups are banding together to stop the council mountain biking trails through an “endangered ecosystem” along the escarpment.

The Darling Downs Environment Council, which played a major role in the legal action against the expansion of the New Acland Coal Mine, will help co-ordinate several groups to prevent the Toowoomba Regional Council going ahead with its current Escarpment Mountain Bike Master Plan.

The proposal, which was endorsed by the council in late 2019 and is expected to generate millions in tourism, includes several tracks through Redwood Park, which the groups say is home to a delicate ecosystem system featuring many endangered birds and animals.

Plans for mountain biking trails in Redwood Park as part of the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley Escarpment Mountain Bike Master Plan.

Groups involved with the campaign include Friends of Escarpment Parks, the Toowoomba Bird Observers, the Wilderness Society, Toowoomba Field Naturalists, Birdlife Southern Queensland and Wildlife Queensland.

Community organiser Paul King said a meeting would be held at the end of March to help co-ordinate the efforts.

“There’s been some tick-tacking about what to do about it, and the DDEC has been asked to co-ordinate the effort,” he said.

“People in this area are going to have a direct interest in the campaign, as will some of the economic groups, because we’re putting together the numbers of visitors to Redwood, and trying to put together (how much) money they put into the town.

“We love getting people out into the bush, but not at the expense of ecosystems.”

Friends of Escarpment Parks committee member Hugh Krenske, who has been heavily involved in the rehabilitation effort at Redwood Park, said fast mountain biking trails through the area would be destructive to the fauna and flora.

“With regard to Redwood, we have certain endangered animals at Redwood,” he said.

“To conserve it, we can’t have it dissected by a series of fast mountain bikes.

“We’ve got lots of other places where the Toowoomba Regional Council could’ve gone.

“Any of the other parks are not like Redwood – it’s got an endangered ecosystem.”

The FOEP launched a petition last year in relation to Redwood Park in November.

Residents and interested parties are invited to come to a planning meeting at the Redwood Park picnic area on March 27 from 10am.

For more information about the campaign, ring Paul King on 0455 619 454.