Irresponsible and destructive trail bike riders have been accused of getting a short-term thrill while leaving a long-term wound in a highly significant flora and fauna location in the Macedon Ranges.
With the holiday season coming up, Riddells Creek Landcare president Ross Colliver has spoken out about what is happening at Barrm Birrm on the north western side of the town.
He acknowledged gates put on roads through Barrm Birrm by the shire council had slowed the flow of four-wheel drives, and the bushland was slowly recovering.
“But trail bike riders come and go at will,” Mr Colliver explained.
In the past, riders have contented themselves with tearing around the upper slopes, which are already damaged.
Mr Colliver said over the past two months destructive riders had been cutting new trails into the soft surface of the lower slopes.
They have cut down through the surface layer of moss, lichen and grasses, exposing the soil.
‘YEARS TO RECOVER’
“Moving water washes the soil away and the land will take years to recover,” Mr Colliver warned.
He said someone in Riddell must know the offending trail bike riders.
“They’re trashing the place, and that is not right,” he said, calling on riders to stick with established tracks and “go up the top” and leave the lower slopes alone.
People who know any of the riders could remind them of their responsibilities.
“This is the bushland in Riddell’s backyard,” Mr Colliver said.
“With our population about to double, we’re going to need these places. But they need looking after or they will go downhill fast.”
In the 2023 Ecological Assessment of Barrm Birrm it was described as arguably the most intact flora and fauna area in the region.
It is a stronghold for four species of threatened flora, and the Landcare members are keen to see strongholds protected.
Some locals find the quiet bush a great place to walk.
Each month half a dozen Landcare members go in on a ‘Wildflowers and Weeds’ walk.
They find out what is blooming and remove the weeds that travel in from the town.
