The meeting heard the proposed new trails could cover Mount Gladstone, but this will be confirmed in the planning process. Photo: VisitNSW.
A regional council is starting early planning work for new sports infrastructure, despite several of its councillors calling for consideration of private investment and prior demands on its budget.
At a recent meeting, Snowy Monaro Regional Council (SMRC) voted to support preliminary planning work for new mountain biking infrastructure near Cooma, as part of its support for a group’s grant application.
Before the 2025 federal election, the Albanese Government promised $3.1 million towards the construction of 54 km of new trails (including a large-scale asphalt pump track).
For the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program (which the Snowy Mountains MTB Club has flagged its intention to pursue), applications need to be sponsored.
“They have requested that it is council that sponsors them because it becomes our asset afterwards … What this is asking us to do is the investigations of how much it’s going to cost and etcetera,” Mayor Chris Hanna said.
A staff member said that if the council became the sponsor, it would become “basically, the guarantee” for the grant.
There are also unknowns around the project, with a business case to be prepared.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of looking at what the detailed grant project would look like before we know whether it’s on any particular site,” they said.
They also said SMRC would need to approve the project regardless of whether another sponsor was obtained, because the infrastructure was proposed for council-owned or council-managed land.
Cr Tricia Hopkins said that while there would be “hurdles to jump over” in the planning process, she felt there was community demand for the expansion.
“Mountain biking is huge and growing. It’s an economic boost for the area, a tourist boost for the area.”
During the discussion, Cr Tanya Higgins also encouraged her fellow councillors to support the requested sponsorship.
She said that while SMRC was facing a “financial dilemma”, the preliminary work would help ensure they could make an informed decision on the overall project.
“This is recreation, which is most definitely part of what local government does.”
Cr Reuben Rose pushed back on the need for the project, saying that the dedicated infrastructure was an unnecessary expense for SMRC.
He also suggested that private investment could be used instead.
“People just announce stuff, but actually, what we’ve got is a liability here right before our eyes.
“This is something we just have to reject out of hand. … This is a community project we never asked for.”
Cr Rose also sought to amend the motion so that the council could consider how the proposal aligned with specific planning documents.
Cr Andrew Thaler also urged SMRC to defer a decision and turn its focus to resolving in-progress infrastructure projects.
“The staff have got a lot of tasks on their plate. … We can say, respectfully, we’re not ready – this is a pause year to catch up with our capital obligations,” he said.
“I think that it would be a little bit of a folly, or a fool’s folly, to chase this project just so that we might access political money that was promised.”
The meeting also heard there were separate plans for more mountain biking trails at Jindabyne, with council’s CEO Noreen Vu saying there had been discussions about how to avoid potential “duplication” between the projects.
Crs Lynda Summers, Higgins, Bob Stewart, John Rooney, Narelle Davis, Nick Elliot, Hopkins and Hanna supported the motion, while Crs Luke Williamson, Rose and Thaler voted against it.
