Stromlo Forest Park Master Plan

Residents in Weston Creek have received a postcard inviting them to have their say about the ‘new’ Mount Stromlo Master Plan. This Master Plan doesn’t differ a great deal from that created in 2009. There were several issues with that Plan including equestrian trails marked on impossible terrain or leading nowhere and a luge and a chairlift over Bluegums. ACTEA commented on this in some detail and Olympian Gill Rolton was, for some reason, also asked for her opinion, but the Plan was never formally adopted. Another lunge at a Plan was made and ACTEA was again consulted, this time in 2013. Part of the problem is that the government continues to try to fit far too many facilities into the very small available flat area between the mountain and the old Uriarra Road. The mountain itself is protected from hotels, fun parks and restaurants under the National Capital Plan. So here we are again with another Draft Master Plan. How does it compare with the 2010 version (MP1)? You can access the old MP at http://www.stromloforestpark.com.au/images/PDF/2010_Stromlo_Forest_Park_Master_Plan.pdf). This is a very large document (150pp).

The new draft Master Plan (MP2) that appears on the consultation website at http://haveyoursay.planning.act.gov.au/stromlo-forest-park-master-plan has some strange labeling and doesn’t, for some reason, include West Stromlo. The following comments refer to the public consultation version but you can also access the 150519 Revised Master Plan – Option 1(1) at the ACTEA website. You can also find a map of the current marked equestrian trails in SFP at http://www.stromloforestpark.com.au/images/maps/SFP_PRECINCTMAP_2013_white.pdf.

Consultation closes Friday 5 February 2016.

MP2 does not come with much explanation. You might want to read the following before you complete the government survey. There are some suggested comments at the end.

The old Pipeline Road that connects Uriarra Road and the Mount Stromlo Summit Road was originally designated as an equestrian trail. Over the years so many bike tracks have been built across it that only the most phlegmatic horse and rider would use it. Under the MP1 it was proposed to build hotel, office and tourist accommodation along the road and use the carpark near the front entrance for bus, drop-off and day parking. This axis has been moved away from Pipeline Road and a new access route called the Stromlo Boulevard will link all these facilities.

  • The Village (MULTI Purpose Amphitheatre, Finish Bowl, Commercial Opportunities, Gondola To Summit)

  • BMX Bike Race

  • Jumping / Dirt Park

  • The Playground’

  • Enclosed Oval

  • Stromlo Leisure Centre

  • Sport Facilities

It is unlikely that this will take bicycle pressure of the the Pipeline Road but there should not be other vehicles using it.

Possible Gondola To Summit. This has been on the drawing board since the day John Stanhope opened the equestrian trails at Stromlo in 2010. MP2 has moved the route from directly over the top of Bluegums (#23) to what appears to be over the top of the downhill track which has got to be an improvement. There will still be issues for horse riders using the top equestrian trail. On last advice this Gondola is only likely to be built if ANU or someone else pays for it!

There has always been plans to incorporate low cost Accommodation at SFP to compensate for the lack of cheaper places for school groups elsewhere in Canberra. At least one or other of these areas are likely to be constructed in the not distant future most probably the ones nearest the front gate. This is least likely to impact on equestrians

In the far left-hand bottom of MP2 there is a BMX Park marked between the Cotter Road and the Mount Stromlo Summit Road. In MP1 this was an area designated for a camping area at which Stromlo Management suggested some horse yards and float parking could be included for people travelling to ride in the Park. This camping area has completely disappeared and been replaced by a BMX track quite close to the fire trail which connects Bibaringa and the National Equestrian Centre to the existing cavaletti into the Park. This old entrance is also not marked. These are both issues.

Gravity Sport. This little beauty was introduced by a proposal in 2012 from a private adventure company to build a fancy flying fox on the east face of the mountain. The structure would overfly several designated equestrian trails and ACTEA objected strongly to the idea at the time. The discussion about the design restraints on the developer seems to have put them off. Stromlo Management have not been able to explain why the concept is still in the MP2. Screaming human beings dangling from wires and moving at speed over horse trails is a very scary thought.

District Playing Fields have always been included in the MP. This is primarily because the government was not willing to build these in Coombs, Wright (land too valuable) or Denman (terrain impossibly steep). Their existence has some influence on the proposed route of the Bicentennial National Trail.

Equestrian Trails. Not all equestrian trails at Stromlo are marked in MP2 but then neither are all cycle tracks. One new development is the inclusion of a specific route for the Bicentennial National Trail from the John Gorton underpass edge of the Park along Holdens Creek, around the playing fields and other facilities to connect with other equestrian trails in the Park (eg up to Bluegums) and to exit at the cavaletti on the Cotter Road. The label Proposed Equestrian Trails on the Plan probably refers to this rather than to some other as yet unadvised new trails.

Note: The plan for a Luge above Bluegums in MP1 mercifully seems to have disappeared from this latest version.

There are also several features which do not appear on the consultation version of MP2 but are on the version attached to this article.

#16 Bike Path. There are two entrances to Stromlo FP on the Cotter Road and from the John Gorton underpass on the other side of the Park which will link the Park to other city cycleways and incorporates the Centennial cycling and walking Trail.

#18 12 Kilometre Road Cycling Circuit. The cycling community has been pressuring SFP to include this circuit for years, particularly as their usual racing routes of Uriarra an Cotter Road become busier and busier. One part of the circuit already exists in the form of a bitumen cycle path constructed on top of the equestrian trail running the length of the fire trail parallel to Uriarra Road. The southern end of this circuit will link with the Mount Stromlo Road. The link between does not use existing fire trails in West Stromlo but crosses across many of them. This will be an expensive development and may be some years off but it is an issue, firstly for the safety for horse riders on West Stromlo and secondly because at the moment there is only one public access point to southern end of West Stromlo near the ACTEW waterworks and it cannot be used safely by both horses and cyclists.

Please fill in the Survey. SFP does not believe horse riders use the Park unless they see evidence. They have counters on the bike tracks to measure use by cyclists but they have no similar way of measuring the use of equestrian trails in either East or West Stromlo.

  1. Even if you only go to Stromlo once in a blue moon fill it in as a visitor.

  2. In the table, most of the facilities listed will not impact on equestrians but the cycling circuit will and it would be good to ‘strongly not support’ that only because most cyclist will support it and it has strong implications for equestrians who use West Stromlo.

  3. Concerns about the Master Plan can include:

  • the Gondola above equestrian trails and the issues of noise and even objects falling from a great height

  • the gravity/flying fox introducing screaming human beings dangling from wires and moving at speed over horse trails will be dangerous

  • the BMX Park next to the Mount Stromlo Summit Road is far too close to the access route for equestrians travelling from Bibaringa and the National Equestrian Centre

  • the cavaletti on the Cotter Road which is an access point for these riders is not marked and its absence is a concern

  • the racing circuit in West Stromlo cuts many equestrian trails and will reduce the amenity of users and make riding very unsafe if not impossible when races are on

  • the southern entrance point for the cycle racing circuit to West Stromlo is presently an equestrian access point.

ACTEA will of course be making a submission on the new Master Plan so any comments you wish to contribute should be made to info@actea.asn.au.

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