Council to examine sites for bike park relocation
TWO sites on Alcoa’s freehold land will be explored as potential host sites for a relocated Anglesea Bike Park.
Surf Coast Shire has committed $6600 for consultants to carry out the additional investigation, which comes after Alcoa extended its lease on the site until the end of the year.
Anglesea ward councillor Margot Smith said there was widespread support to consider the new options, given the security of the lease extension.
“The recent analysis by World Trail hadn’t considered these two sites because they weren’t on public land,” Cr Smith said. “Alcoa’s advice that the sites may be available warrants further investigation.”
Alcoa has indicated there are two other sites on its freehold land that may match or exceed the mountain biking experience offered by the current bike park.
The aluminium giant has said it will not consider the council’s offer to buy the bike park land for $500,000 until after the two locations had been assessed.
On the back of a public petition totalling 5500 signatures, community advocates are calling for the 11-year-old bike park to be retained at its existing base.
But Anglesea Bike Park committee secretary Kate Maffett said the group was happy to review all the options, in case Alcoa didn’t take up the council’s offer.
“If there are sites that weren’t included in the initial study but look promising, it makes sense to investigate them and see how they compare,” Ms Maffett said.
The new inquiry comes as Alcoa also focuses on finishing the botched demolition of its Anglesea power station.
The first attempt, at the end of May, left the main boiler building still standing.
Alcoa said there had been no movement in the structure, with a third engineering study finding that the building remained stable.