The Nelson Mountain Bike Club (NMTBC) represents a large community of riders with over 2800 members, volunteers, and trail builders in the Nelson Tasman region. The Club has a long history of developing and maintaining trails on public land, including the Wairoa Gorge Mountain Bike Park, on Department of Conservation owned land. Access to public conservation land is fundamental to our members and the wider mountain biking community.
WHAT WE SUPPORT
The Nelson Mountain Bike Club supports the proposed improvements to the concession system. These changes have the potential to improve access and make it easier for many of our members to work with the Department of Conservation. The proposal to pre-approve up to 40% of applications, including guided biking, trail activities, and commercial recreation, would significantly reduce paperwork and administrative burden. For trail development on public conservation land, faster approvals mean less time spent in bureaucratic processes and more time building and riding trails. We believe these changes are a positive step for the mountain bike community and outdoor recreation as a whole.
WHAT WE OPPOSE
The Nelson Mountain Bike Club does not support the proposed changes that loosen the rules for selling and exchanging conservation land, including Conservation and Forest Parks such as the Mount Richmond Forest Park, which backs the Wairoa Gorge Mountain Bike Park. Under the Bill as currently drafted, there is no legal requirement to protect public access if conservation land is sold or exchanged, creating a real risk that existing trail networks and public access could be lost. We are also concerned that the Bill does not distinguish between small-scale trail infrastructure and large commercial developments, creating the potential for inappropriate development in places highly valued by our members and the wider community. While we support appropriate recreational use of conservation land, we believe that conservation values should remain the primary purpose of these areas and should be prioritised ahead of commercialisation.
The Nelson Mountain Bike Club supports retaining the proposed concession reforms. However, we ask that the land disposal provisions be amended to:
- Protect Conservation and Forest Parks, including the Mount Richmond Forest Park and the Wairoa Gorge, from being made eligible for sale.
- Require enforceable public access covenants on any conservation land that is sold or exchanged.
- Limit land disposal to genuinely low conservation-value land, consistent with the original stewardship land standard.