eNewsletter 1604


April 2016
In this issue: Areas: Pinjar Metro Road Advocacy: State Election 2017 Events Pinjar Maintenance April 2 X-Trials April 8-9 Login for more information To access the Members Only area of the RTRA Web site you will need to log on as follows: User Name: {tag_recipientusername} Password: Forgotten your password? Helping to save your riding areas	Dear Member The political scene is hotting up at the Federal and State level and the RTRA is gearing up to lobby hard. Read on for all the details... State Election 2017 With the State Election less than 12 months away we have a golden opportunity to raise the needs of trail bike riders with both sides of Parliament. Coincidentally, this month marks the 5th anniversary of the historic Parliamentary debate when speakers from all three major parties rose to commend the State Trail Bike Strategy, with the Labor opposition calling on the Government to fund and implement the Strategy without further delay. When challenged by the opposition and accused of just wanting to talk about the Strategy, not implement it, the Member for Darling Range, Tony Simpson (now Minister for Local Government) who was in charge of the strategy implementation committee said: "I give you my word, I will stand up. I'm at that cusp at the moment". Five years later it appears that the Minister is still balancing on that cusp! The support of the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Department of Parks and Wildlife is appreciated and is to be commended, however this is on isolated projects and there is still no high level recognition of the importance in resolving the ongoing issues surrounding our activity. So it's time to turn up the heat. Campaigns like this need a groundswell from the public - you the riders. Planning is underway and we'll keep members up to date with our progress and opportunities for involvement. Short n Curly Maintenance The Short n Curly practice MX circuit is undergoing maintenance, thanks to our friends at DPaW. It will be closed today (April 1), then open over the weekend, then closed again Monday / Tuesday April 4 and 5. The work being done is to fill in some holes and ruts for improved safety and rideability. Riders are asked to respect the track closure and keep clear of the area while it is closed. Pinjar Maintenance Morning - Saturday April 2 Our first Pinjar Maintenance Morning for 2016 will be held tomorrow (Saturday, April 2). Registration is at 9am (this is necessary for DPaW volunteer insurance purposes and our own volunteering reporting) and there will be a briefing at 9.15am. DPaW will again be providing a barbecue and drinks for volunteers - firing up at about 11am - so we hope to see lots of riders and families to show support for the area. WA Gets Thumbs-Up in Federal Parliament (almost) Senator Ricky Muir almost gave WA a big thumbs-up in a senate speech recently. Problem was, he ran out of time before he got to the last paragraph of his speech in which he referred to WA as leading the way, and a model for other states to follow. Here is the transcript with the last paragraph added. As mentioned last month, Senator Muir is absolutely in tune with the needs of trail and quad bike riders. Let's hope he survives the next election and is able to re-win his Senate seat in his own right. Slow Decision for a Simple Matter On December 7 last year we wrote to the Department of Local Government seeking reimbursement for the costs of overprinting the new Off Road Vehicle registration fee on our remaining stock of 'So Where Can I Ride' booklets. We needed to do this to ensure the booklets were current after DLG raised the price of registration in October last year. The cost of printing and affixing stickers with the new registration fee was $1,153. Sounds reasonable? We thought so. Nearly four months later and after numerous phone calls and emails we are still awaiting a response from the Department. Metro Road Framework Progressing The first stage in developing a Master Plan for the Metro Road riding area is progressing, with a working group comprising representatives from DPaW, DSR, RTRA and MWA working through the DPaW planning process. The process is to create a framework and involves a thorough exploration of scope and constraints so that subsequent stages can progress more effectively. We would like to thank the RTRA members who are giving their time and knowledge of the area to attend the meetings and provide input. The next stage of the process will be a site assessment, followed by a Concept Plan. X-Trial Returns to Perth - Tickets on Sale The amazing skills of world class trials riders will be on display as the X-Trial Australian Championships return to Perth. The event will be held on April 8 and 9 at Baseball Park in Canning Vale. See http://www.ausxtrial.com.au/ for more details. Incident Notification gets Rapid Response Sometimes things work surprisingly well. At 8:27am on Good Friday we received a message from a rider advising that there was a log down across the South Loop at Pinjar. By 9:15 we had a warning notice on the RTRA web site and Pinjar and RTRA Facebook pages and had notified DPaW with precise location details and a photo. By 5.00pm that day we received advice from DPaW that the log had been removed. This is a great example of the three-way partnership that is riders, RTRA and DPaW. If you see anything significant out there, let us know. Help Spread the Word New to the RTRA? Here are the four key objectives the RTRA pursues: To protect and extend quality, safer off-road riding opportunities for Western Australian recreational trail bike riders of all ages. To promote and encourage safety and responsible riding attitudes, including minimising noise and trail damage. To actively pursue the needs of trail bike riders with State and Local Government, landowners and other stakeholders. To improve the perception of trail bike riding as a recreational activity. If you think the RTRA is having a positive impact for riders, just think how much more effective we'd be if we had double the members. It's actually not that hard - all it takes is for each member to find one other rider to sign up. If you have riding buddies who are not yet members of the RTRA, please forward them this email and give them a prod to join up.
Recreational Trailbike Riders' Association of WA Inc