Nice try. More work needed - and in another location, without all the people living nearby

The proposed motocross development at Adare could possibly, with a lot more work on the concept and the details, be a good idea.  But not at Adare.

It's just  in the wrong location, even if judged only on the number of people impacted.

The Qld Moto Park at Wyaralong, on the other hand, is an example of a properly located motocross facility - there are only about 120 people living within 4km.  At the Adare site, here are 900 people living within 4km of the proposed motocross property, including a lot of young people who don't need their nights and weekends blighted by motocross and traffic noise.




[1] Compiled using the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census Data for the localities closest in proximity to the proposed development.  Where census data is not available at the necessary scale for a locality, extrapolations have been made from an adjacent locality close to the proposed development.
[2] Note: 0-19 years includes those aged 0-14 years.
[3] Sources: http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/quickstats and Google Earth imagery and overlays to locate houses and properties within specified radii of the properties.
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The $4 million QMP (Queensland Moto Park) facility between Beaudesert and Boonah was developed through the efforts of the SEQ Council of Mayors, the SEQ Councils, and the State Government.

The LVRC Mayor, Steve Jones,  as the Chair of the SEQ Council of Mayors Trail Bike Task Force, played a significant part over a number of years in the development of the project.  The QMP Wyaralong facility is a well-planned site following strict design and operating criteria.
 
Clearly, even judging only by the number of dwellings and residents adjacent to the site, the location of the proposed Adare development has not been well planned.

The LVRC makes an important contribution to setting the standard for motcross facility location and design

MEDIA RELEASE
Wyaralong trail bike facility on track for 2011 opening
May 27, 2010


The $4 million regional trail bike facility at Wyaralong is on track to open in 2011 with the State Government and South East Queensland Councils committing over $2 million to develop the park.

The Council of Mayors (SEQ) today announced a $1.25 million commitment from SEQ Councils, subject to council budgets being confirmed over the next month.

Queensland Minister for Sport, The Hon. Phil Reeves MP, also confirmed the State Government‟s $1 million contribution, in addition to providing the $1.5 million 745-hectare site.

Mr Reeves joined V8 Supercar driver and trail bike enthusiast Craig Lowndes, Council of Mayors (SEQ) Trail Bike Taskforce Chair and Lockyer Valley Mayor Councillor Steve Jones and Mayor of the Scenic Rim Councillor John Brent in inspecting the site today.

Cr Jones said the Wyaralong facility was a positive step in dealing with illegal riding problems in local council areas.

“Eight SEQ Councils within 90 minutes of the Wyaralong facility have committed $1.25 million in funding for the project, in addition to the State Government‟s contribution of $1 million,” Cr Jones said.

“This is great news for SEQ‟s 230,000 trail bike riders who currently have few safe, legal riding options.

“Research carried out for the Council of Mayors (SEQ) shows that over 86% of riders are likely to ride at a regional facility and 67% said they would be less likely to ride at illegal sites.

“And in more good news for trail bike enthusiasts, riders from participating councils will receive significant discounts on entry to the facility and priority during busier times.”

Cr Jones said the Wyaralong trail bike park would be a family friendly recreational facility.

“Our research challenged the stereotype of trail bike riders, indicating that almost half of riders surveyed were „family men‟, with 25% regularly riding with family members and 40% of rider‟s children also involved in trail bike riding.”

The financial contributions from the State Government and SEQ Councils will fund the development of essential site infrastructure, such as access roads, water, energy and basic camping facilities.

Cr Jones said the Council of Mayors (SEQ) will now seek an experienced commercial operator to develop and manage the site effectively and safely, a process that will take three to four months.

“We are looking for a commercial operator that is going to provide an exceptionally high standard of service to SEQ trail bike riders and make a significant financial contribution to further develop the site,” Cr Jones said.

“We have been pleased with the significant amount of interest shown by commercial entities and individuals following local and national advertisements of the upcoming Expression of Interest (EOI) process.

“Following the Council of Mayors (SEQ) briefing with industry stakeholders yesterday, we will finalise the EOI document and formally commence the search for a commercial operator,” Cr Jones said.

MX tracks and their poor relationships with neighbours and local government

The quote below is from the introduction to a review of the relationships between motocross tracks and their neighbours and local government agencies which includes reviews of the histories of eight existing or proposed motocross tracks in America.

At the Oct 21 Conditional Use Hearing regarding the Thomas Conditional Use proposal for motocross/camping in rural Clackamas County, testimony was given in support of the proposal based on claims that motocross was “family friendly”. A man stated that Washougal MX had expensive homes in the vicinity of the MX tracks and that local residents and the commercial MX business had happy relationships.

Extensive research into the functioning and relationships multiple MX facilities, whether permitted or unpermitted, have with their neighbors and with their County planning departments proves conclusively that it is totally false to claim motocross events can happily co-exist with residential areas.

Every case I researched, including Washougal MX, proved that  residents within earshot of MX tracks are miserable and that they consider motocross a serious nuisance which steals their quality of life and degrades and pollutes land. Counties have extra work loads to enforce MX code infractions and have ongoing struggles related to traffic, crowd control, noise, and regulating environmental damage. Local police and emergency services are impacted as well.

Family-oriented
 Any claims that the proposed Adare motocross track will be family oriented don't take into account the impacts on families among the 900+ people living in the vicinity of the track.

Emergency Services
It's worth noting the mention of impacts on police and emergency services as well.  That has also been the experience with the Black Duck Valley and the Wyaralong tracks in Southeast Queensland.

Noise as an Amenity Impact
There's a nice quote from a county examiner (sort of like our LVRC Assessment Manager) in relation to noise [LVRC please note]:

pg. 24 item h. iii: “Even when the noise does not drown out conversation or disturb people sleeping or exceed 57 dbA, it increases the noise levels frequently enough and in amounts and for a duration that is enough to detract from the character of the area as rural residential. The examiner finds that such an impact is significantly detrimental to people nearest the site.”

Noise issues are NOT just about loudness as measured in decibels!  They are about loss of rural/natural amenity, and about stress and anxiety caused by ongoing, long-term exposure to noise which is not part of the local environment.

Loudness Requirements Can Stop Motocross
But, in terms of loudness of MX noise, the article quotes a complaint that: … imposed sound limitations that are so restrictive they effectively deny the permit application.”

As if the fact that MX operations can't comply with mandated noise limits is somehow the fault of the legislators, or is a direct attack on MX as a business, instead of being a standard of what is reasonable noise in a particular environment.

Emu Creek track in the Tenterfield Council area is one example.  After a lot of time, court cases and expense the Tenterfield Council imposed noise and operating time limits on the motocross activities at Emu Creek, which they claim they could not meet from a business point of view.  They are still in business and seem to have moved to mountain bike and Bicycle MX activities to replace the motocross element of their custom.

It's also worth noting that in the case of the Emu Creek motocross, Tenterfield Council monitored maximum noise levels [L(A)max], rather than averaged noise levels over a (usually long) period [L(A)eq], because they said it was more objective when long-term, long period noise was considered.  The Adare proponent's Noise Study uses averaged noise levels, which always appear more favourable to the proponent's case.

Costs to Council for Ongoing Compliance Action
The case studies refer to costs to all parties for the application (including appeals) procedures and for ongoing compliance.  In our own area, the Emu Creek case mentioned above is said to have cost the Tenterfield Council in excess of $66,000 for compliance monitoring and court costs before it stopped the noise nuisance.

Aspects of motocross tracks

Just a couple of things that came across my computer screen while researching fire risks posed by motocross tracks - if you're wondering, the general consensus seems to be "high".

That's the sign the Motorcycling Australia requires to be posted at motocross venues as part of its "Guidelines for Inspection and Licensing of Tracks".  I didn't see any mention of that in the Gatton Star article promoting the track to kids and families.

And then, on Molalla Blog I found a long and sad story about what it is like live near a motocross track.  If you want an idea of how many people are out there combing the internet for material on motocross tracks, Molalla has had 62,478 "hits".  This little blog has had 1,110 hits in six weeks.  I hope not to be writing about motocross in the Lockyer 61,000 hits from now.

The following are just a few excerpts from the blog.

"In essence, the lack of code enforcement, the total disregard Thomas has shown for the land and the lives of the people who surround the site, Thomas’s failure to get permits before creating a facility and the fact that this “park” has already been commercially promoted now has created a state of high anxiety between local residents and the motocross users. Thomas has no connection to the local community since he lives in Happy Valley instead of at the subject property.

The tension and fear caused by the motocross users has completely changed the way local residents must live their lives. The culture of commercial motocross is not conducive to the safety, piece of mind, commercial farm/forest activities and the general well being of local long time residents."
 ...
"All of the neighbors I have met are distressed about the years they have had to endure the noise, dust, trash, worries about fire and general disruption to their legal farm/forest activities due to the motocross track in their midst. Rural people like to spend lots of time outdoors, especially in the dry months, now families hesitate to invite visitors over for summer events for fear of being subjected to noise and dust. Families can’t trust the safety of children playing in the woods and fields adjoining tracks; if the motocross “fans’ are willing to verbally abuse and menace neighbors, what might they do to children or adults who confront them if trespassing should occur? Given the camping with up to 250 site users/4 days week proposed by Thomas, and the location near private adjoining woods and fields that aren’t readily visible from owners’ residences, there is little doubt that “camping” use would eventually spill over fence lines as park “users” seek new grounds to explore."
 ...
 "I contacted numerous other Counties about existing motocross facilities and it is obvious that even permitted facilities have on going problems with complaints from neighbors. The growing piles of complaints against Mr. Thomas, including the finding of “guilty” on a noise violation in May, prove that the community would have little faith in Mr. Thomas’s interest in complying with “conditions, and that the community would further endanger itself by having to serve as the conditional use code “police’ in a place far from the offices of code enforcement, agency reps, and the Sheriff.

The August 5, 2010 “Findings and Final Order” for the Thomas Noise Control Citation No. 10-2531 noted “five pages of CCOM detail reports showing numerous complaints of noise” on the Thomas property – yet Thomas, who failed to appear, sent a message that he was “not aware of the noise ordinance”."
 ...
"... it is clear that MX has been poisoning its own well around the world for years."

Koalas in Adare and Vinegar Hill - under serious threat

Koalas are probably the most environmentally significant species that would be impacted by the establishment and operation of a motocross track on the Adare property.   Impacts will come from noise, vehicle strike and possibly vegetation clearing in Stage 2 of the development.

The database

For the last few weeks our group has been collecting incidental records of koala sightings in the area of bushland which is contiguous with the vegetation in the vicinity of the proposed Adare motocross track.

We now have 66 records of koala sightings for this area.  It may not look like 66 "pins" on the map, but that's because at this scale many pins are hidden behind others.

These sightings are all within 5km of the motocross track, and almost all are within less than 4km.  The nearest is only 950 metres from the track.

All of these sightings are in vegetation types that occur on the motocross property and within 20-70 metres of the track.  These vegetation types are classified as Bushland Koala Habitat or as Essential Habitat for koalas.

Remember, these are incidental sightings. They are not the result of targeted surveys for koalas.  They are sightings that people happened to make while they were doing other things, and which they have some record of.  People don't tend to look up in trees when they are working on their land.  Even if they do, koalas are pretty cryptically marked.  They have colours which tend to blend with the bark of trees and the dark shadows in thick foliage, and they even have lighter patches around their rear ends, so that their silhouette is broken up when seen against the sky from below.  Most people never see a koala when they are walking through the bush.

Our data collection is not yet complete.  The properties where there are no koala records are almost all ones where we haven't yet tried to collect information or where we don't have access.

The Road-kill Threat

Death by vehicle strike is among the three greatest threats to koala populations in Southeast Queensland.

Adare Road runs from the big dam just to the right of bottom centre in the map vertically (north) to the entrance to the motocross track. There are more than 30 records of koalas within 250 metres of Adare Road (four of these are of koalas crossing the road, and one is of a dead koala on the road).

Koalas are active at night, and that's when they will be crossing the road.  Imagine the number of road-killed koalas there will be if there is motocross traffic on Adare Road four to six nights per week!

Comparison Between Our Data and the Government Database

The WildNet database has been built up by the State government over a number of years. It contains records of wildlife sightings and listings of plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, freshwater fish, sharks and rays, butterflies and other priority invertebrates in Queensland.

The wildlife lists are based on collated species lists and wildlife records from Queensland Government departments and external organisations. The data sources include:

• specimen collections
• research and monitoring programs
• inventory programs including extension activities
• literature records
• wildlife permit returns
• community wildlife recording programs.

WildNet at present has 65 records of koalas within 10km of the motocross track.  In a few weeks members of our group, with the cooperation of the local community, have gathered 66 records within 5km of the track.  That's a fantastic effort.

It's not that the koalas weren't there before - just that this is a big State and there has never been sufficient resources to carry out the necessary surveys at the scale we need for dealing with local government planning applications.

Ultimately our records will go into the WildNet database and into the privately funded Koala Tracker database.

Oh no. Not another cute koala.

Today's koala sighting.

Thanks to the sharp eyes of a member of our group (thanks John), this one was spotted beside Adare Road, near the intersection with Fords Road.

This sighting highlights the danger that koalas will be in from vehicle strike if the motocross track is approved at the end of Adare Road.  This koala has only two directions in which it can go from its tree without crossing a road.  The other two directions take it across roads that currently are relatively busy, but nothing like the traffic that will exist if the motocross track is approved.

With motocross traffic along Adare Road four to six nights per week, and a predicted (by the applicant) maximum volume of 150 vehicles per hour around opening and closing times, there will be absolute slaughter of koalas.

We're not talking city run-about vehicles.  The majority of these will be utes, vans, and 4-WDs, mostly towing trailers loaded with motocross bikes.  They don't stop fast.

Just about the whole length of Adare Road has some bush one side or the other.

The amount of remaining bushland along Adare Road is a big plus for koalas.  It means there's still plenty of connection between habitat areas.  Habitat fragmentation is one of the big dangers for koala (and most wildlife) populations.

But there doesn't have to be a lot of bushland alongside the road for koalas to want to cross.  Even where there isn't thick bush, koalas will still cross the road.

A koala was found dead on the road here a year ago.

In suburban areas such as those in and around Brisbane where at-risk koala colonies are getting a lot of attention in the media, vehicle strike has overtaken disease as the leading cause of koala death.  Luckily that isn't the case in the Adare-Vinegar Hill area at present.  There a few roads compared with suburban areas, and the majority of those roads have very low volumes of traffic, and mostly local drivers who are aware of the wildlife. We need to keep it that way - not just for the koalas, but for the safety of our community members as well.

Have a look at the map above.  That stretch of Adare Road, from Redbank Creek Road to the intersection with Ranger Road (where the Adare locality name is) is a school bus route.  School buses will be coming along this route in the hour before the motocross track will open Tuesday to Friday - when motocross traffic is at its busiest.