Meeting Monday - Important

B.C. Trails Strategy

Date: 2009-01-12

Message from Provincial Government:
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts in partnership with BC Parks and the Ministry of Transportation is pleased to announce that an additional meeting date and time has been added to the Trails Strategy Community Consultation schedule to accommodate the significant interest from residents of the Greater Vancouver area, Sea to Sky Corridor, Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast.

A public information session and feedback forum will be held on the evening of January 12th, at the North Vancouver Holiday Inn from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

As an additional note, at the various public meetings that have already taken place throughout BC, we have discovered that the public appreciates the opportunity for an open dialogue format. The original intent for an open house format has not proven as effective and therefore we would like to encourage participants to arrive on time to take part in an informative presentation and discussion that will begin promptly at 6:30 pm.

Let's make sure mountain bikers have a voice at this meeting!

There is an ongoing thread about this topic here.

Meeting details:
January 12th
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. (Open Discussion will START at 6:30 so be on time)
North Vancouver Holiday Inn

Here are Lee's comments after reading the Draft Strategy.

Link to the draft trail strategy:
http://www.tca.gov.bc.ca/sites_trails/docs/Provincial_Trails_Strategy/DraftTrail_Strategy_110608.pdf

- Need improvements to Occupiers Liability Act to immunize trail maintenance groups, municipalities, province from liability for users getting injured on trails

- Marketing trail networks will increase trail use. Need funds to grant to trail maintenance groups to offset and compensate for added maintenance burden

- Need inexpensive, simple insurance for trail maintenance groups. Emphasis on SIMPLE. FLAT FEE insurance option is the best. Asking groups to record each member who shows up for every trail day and getting all particulars and getting releases from everyone is NOT simple.

- Need to accommodate groups that are NOT interested in building trails to be used by motorized vehicles. Not interested in building MotoX trails.

- Need to accommodate groups that are NOT interested in building gravel paths. Not interested in building trails like the Seawall or the R Juryn trail

Encourage as many people as possible to come out. The biggest issue is Liability IMO and ensuring volunteers can maintain trails to a challenging standard for mountain bikers.

Once you post your story perhaps the NSMBA can also send the story out to the membership and post on the NSMBA site.