In May this year, the popular dirt jumps at Red Hill Reserve in Oxford Falls were flattened by Crown Lands without any warning or consultation with the mountain biking community. Local riders were shocked and disappointed, and so was I. Mountain biking is a very popular sport on the northern beaches—and, generally speaking, across the country—with local groups like the Garigal Gorillas who create thriving communities of riders. Mountain biking gets particularly young people outdoors, keeps them active and connects them with other people who share their passion for the sport. Flattening the jumps at Red Hill was both unnecessarily repressive and counterproductive. Matthew Ward from mountain bike advocacy and consultancy group Trail Care said:

"Whilst concerns around management, safety and environment are absolutely valid and significant, simply removing the jumps will not be effective in mitigating the associated risks. This is because the relevant user group still exists, and will inevitably continue to find ways to pursue their sport. This means that unsanctioned jump sites will continue to be constructed and used in the Beacon Hill area, likely in more discrete locations, which would be more problematic for emergency response and likely involve significant environmental damage."

The dirt jumps have been in use for over 25 years. Red Hill Reserve was not only loved by local riders, but also widely recognised as having the best dirt jumps in Sydney. When I spoke to Matthew recently, he said, "If you ever had a professional BMXer or mountain biker visiting Sydney, Red Hill is where they wanted to go." Apparently when the international Nitro Circus action sports performers were in town recently they wanted to go to Red Hill to ride on their days off, and were disappointed when they learnt it was not possible.

In June, I gave notice of a motion calling on Crown Lands to work with local riders and Northern Beaches Council to have the jumps rebuilt and authorised as soon as possible. Of all the notices of motion I have given in this place, the response to restoring the Red Hill dirt jumps was one of the strongest and clearest shows of community support I have seen. Some of the comments on social media include:

"From a mother of a heart broken boy who has spent hours on these tracks with all of his friends and many with their dads too. It made no sense at all to remove this dirt bike track."

Also:

"No community was as epic as the group of boys at Red Hill. Honestly, it was unreal."

Northern Beaches Council and Trail Care are ready and willing to work together to manage and maintain the site for mountain bike use. The model for this type of management already exists, and has been shown to work, on the northern beaches at Bare Creek Bike Park in Belrose. I am grateful that the Government has acknowledged that, and I hope this kind of collaboration can happen going forward, not just in my area but across the State. It could unlock so much opportunity. Look at the Great Koala National Park in the Coffs Coast region as an example. This model can work if NSW Crown Lands enables the transfer of management, assists with the development of a plan of management and provides funding for works.

That is what I am asking from the New South Wales Government on behalf of my community and every mountain biker in this State, around the country and, as it turns out, around the world as well. I have met with the Minister responsible for Crown Lands and presented the case for the formalisation and management of the Red Hill site by Northern Beaches Council, alongside local mountain biking groups and Trail Care. I am confident that this model can work, and I will keep pushing it forward until we reach a solution. I thank the Minister for his time. He is doing a good job under difficult circumstances. I also thank Crown Lands for its consideration of this proposal.