Government tick for Maydena bike trail adventure hub

THE State Government has signed off on an EOI project that will allow mountain bike riders to rocket down the biggest vertical drop in the Southern Hemisphere.

MOUNTAIN bike riders will soon be able to rocket down the biggest vertical drop in the Southern Hemisphere at Maydena.

A series of downhill tracks will drop 830m from the Eagles Eyrie to base camp as part of the Maydena Adventure Experience.

The adventure hub was signed off by the State Government yesterday as part of the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process.

Proponent Simon French and his Tasmanian company Dirt Art will use infrastructure from the former Forestry Tasmania mountaintop tourism development Eagles Eyrie and hopes to breathe new life into the region.

Dirt Art operator Simon French.

“This is the biggest vertical drop in the Southern Hemisphere,’’ Mr French said.

Dirt Art is one of the leading mountain bike trail infrastructure developers in the country, designing the Thredbo Resort Bike Park, and the Hollybank Mountain Bike Park and Blue Tier Wilderness Trail in northeast Tasmania.

When the $6.5 million Eyrie was opened in 2009, Forestry Tasmania said it would revive the struggling Derwent Valley community.

The original plan touted by former premier Paul Lennon was for an $8 million funicular train to take visitors to and from the Eyrie. This was later abandoned when it was realised establishing a railway was not possible at the site.

The struggling development closed in 2013.

Mr French said his project would increase the number of visitors and boost the economy of Maydena and the Derwent Valley similar to the bike trail-led transformation of Derby in the north-east.

“Probably even a little bit more because we are different ... we are a more commercial bike ride,’’ he said. “We will work with the local community to help them capitalise on the development.”

A bus service will operate from Hobart and the airport and take riders to the top of Abbotts Peak.

The development is expected to be operating by the middle of the year, after development applications are lodged with the Derwent Valley Council and the Parks and Wildlife Service.

Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage Matthew Groom said the EOI process for tourism development in the state’s wilderness had created jobs and opened up “stunning natural areas for tourism opportunities in regional and rural areas of the state”.

“I am very pleased Dirt Art will establish a new adventure hub near Maydena after signing a lease and licence agreement under our EOI process,’’ he said.

The project is expected to support 12 jobs during construction and up to 20 fulltime equivalent jobs once it is operating.

“The adventure hub will incorporate the disused Eagles Eyrie facility at Abbotts Peak and will incorporate world-class mountain biking, sightseeing and eco-tourism with plans for expansion down the track.”