Eurobodalla Shire councillors, representatives from local Mountain Bike Clubs and members of the Eurobodalla Bicycle Users Group gathered at Club Narooma on Friday morning to officially open stage one of the new mountain bike trails in the Bodalla State Forest.
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Narooma Mountain Bike Club has been given approval to develop trails in Narooma's surrounding state forest by Forestry Corporation NSW.
The terms of the agreement initially is for up to 15 years with the club continuing with the development of more trails, building on the work already achieved in creating 25kms of track opposite the Mort Avenue turn off on the Princes Highway at Dalmeny.
The club has also been successful in receiving a grant from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) that will go towards planning and design documents to oversee the development of more trails.
Narooma Mountain Bike Club president, Georgie Staley said, the next step for the club is to secure grant funding for the design and construction of stages two, three and four that will cement Narooma mountain bike trails as a world class hub for mountain bike tourism.
"The signing of the agreement with Forestry Corp and the confirmation of the FRRR funding both came in the same week and represent a strong endorsement of what we are aiming to achieve.
"We all know the challenges that our town and region have experienced in the last 12 months, so the momentum that we are building is doubly important and is a shot in the arm for the local tourism industry that has always been seasonal in nature.
"We have seen how mountain bike tourism internationally and in towns in certain parts of Australia have provided a significant boost to tourism.
"The beauty of this initiative is that we have a perfect climate to mountain bike all year round.
"We also see this project as being a driver for jobs in our town and the development of new businesses to cater for the anticipated influx of mountain bike tourists," Ms Staley said.