Legit trail in HRM?

legal trail
been biking 20 years and this topic has come up over and over with in the HRM. if a person finds a place that the city owns. there’s a park that is half unused due to hurricane damage. who should i consult to possibly get something legal started? or should i go rogue and open something up. it would be an x/c trail and there’s already old track in there to use. do i bother with the BNS people or skip them and go to the city?

IMO

I would say it is best to try to go legit. It takes longer to jump through the hoops, but more likely that it will stick around longer. You would be able to apply for grants with the right things in place. I’d contact BNS, and the land owner. There may be some valuable help from BNS offered.

The only downside is that if you do ask the land owner and they say no, then any building you do is totally illegal and you can’t claim ignorance.

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Perhaps it would be best to talk with the McIntosh Run Watershed Association. They have a land use agreement with Halifax to build and maintain a multi-use trail. I know it took several years of work to make it happen.

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water shed run is in a 10 year no development agreement between the city and developers, it almost fell through this past winter, it has 8 years left i do believe. no thank you.
BNS probably would need their yearly AGM to get things started, and they haven’t changed much through out the years and they don’t seem keen to change their agendas. no thank you.

the spot i found is an HRM park, everything is developed around it…

should i get in contact with the councilor of the area?

i have lost all faith in the mtb’ing scene here in the HRM so i’d rather avoid it if possible…

Actually the trails being built by MRWA are on Halifax parkland.

heard it on news radio 95.7 a few months back. something to do with the developers trying to back out on an agreement, and that there’s a ten year wait til the city and developers go at trying to figure things out, maybe i misheard.

Tony Mancini, who is a HRM Councillor, is a rider. I see him at Spider Lake from time to time. I have had some casual converstations with him about the state of the trails here in the HRM and the need to develop some sanctioned trails. He is on board with that but is probably looking for someone to spearhead the initiative. I would start with him

Tony Mancini

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thanx muddy, he was mentioned already, and i do believe there’s already conversation happening.
i still don’t understand the reluctance by the shops though, you’d think they’d be all over this. i feel bad for the people that support these shops…

No question the hardest thing to do when looking to build “sanctioned” or approved trails is the wait game. Keen builders want to build. That’s what makes them great! I started talks with a golf course in Grand Bay NB over a year ago. We are just now looking to head to the table to see about breaking ground on a test trail. If I can’t get a 10 yr agreement, it wouldn’t be worth starting. To put 3-4 yrs of work into a project that could be destroyed a couple years after completion would be extremely disheartening.

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If you go the legal route you’ll be way better off approaching any officials with an organized group if you have any dream to do the work and/or maintain the trail yourself. HRM will would never sign off on a MUA or LUA with an individual.

The group should probably consist of at least 1.5 university professors, preferably with earth science type backgrounds and a affinity for Tilley hats. You’ll also need at least 1.3 to 2.4 medical professionals, dentists are okay, but doctors and especially surgeons are preferred. To round out all that nerdy science you’ll want some artists, preferably ones who actually make a living through their art. A (Hali)famous tv or radio personality will beef up the presentation of your vision for sure. Law enforcement officers, lawyers, youth social workers, car dealers and contractors/developers will really add impressive bulk to the group. Hopefully at least a couple of these people will be cyclists. I suppose a few extra cyclists would be good too, but not those rowdy redbull types with tattoos, unless they clean up really well off the bike, maybe some roadies are better.

The land is already a park so be prepared for (years of?) hoops and red tape. The very least being public consultation meetings. This is where you find there will be little to no broader public support for MTB only trails and that everyone will want accessible crusher dust sidewalks in the woods.

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Dark but true, I think.

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@bent6543 haha. Nailed it.

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i’m a skateboarder, us skateboarders went DIY in the hfx commons egg pond to build a park. some groups disliked other groups but everyone teamed up efforts for one main cause. our fundraising created a situation where we brought a cement truck in. we even had hard hats, green tagged boots and bibs. the city was shamed and all of a sudden we had approx. $650,000 to build a proper park. an example of getting stuff done, people sucking up their differences for one main cause.
no i’m not adverse to city planning meetings and what goes on. maybe i’m disillusioned for positive thinking.
one of the main issues for us to get something legit is getting land. i thought maybe where the city already owns the land, it would be one less hurdle to jump.
maybe if the fractured groups within biking in the HRM put their differences aside, one solid group, something could get done.

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Just wanted to mention that Crown lands are for public use… protected wilderness areas and such are a different animal. I had DNR give me a call about the trails I built and the only issue they had was with the bridge over Bennery Creek… which they had no issue with because it was done right.

It was more a case of asking for forgiveness than permission… I would still be sitting here sharpening my Mattock if I was waiting for permission.

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funny thing is, i wouldn’t be cutting anything new, there’s plenty of unused trail in there. just want to clean up alot of deadfall and connect some of the good existing trail into a loop, or actually, loops, would be a good description, it is a fairly large piece of land. there’s a tonne of hiking and scoping out to be done before i even bring a tool in.

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Unless you’re talking about point pleasant park, would HRM even notice you, given there’s so much deadfall that the trails aren’t being used?

And if you are talking about point pleasant park, just drop the tools, back away slowly, and don’t make any sudden movements.

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even though there used to be a nice perimeter single track in point pleasant, no.
where i’m thinking of, the tracks that are there haven’t been used since hurricane juan, and people used to bike in there. i’ll take some pictures on tonight’s hike…

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and i could probably run around in there naked and hollering and no one would notice…

Are you the guy from Whopper Dropper? lol just kidding.

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shit, i was one of the people that helped with the building of whopper, but don’t have a good body type for nakedness…lol