Members of Helensburgh Off-road Cycle Club (HORCC) are celebrating the reopening of Helensburgh Mountain Bike Park after it was closed for a year due to asbestos concerns.
But the club now needs the community's help to restore the site to its former glory.
For several years, Helensburgh Mountain Bike Park has been a beloved destination for the local mountain-biking community but, in mid-2023, Wollongong City Council closed the site after fragments of asbestos were found there.
“The community was upset, just like we were,” said Wayne Teal, president of the HORCC.
“We used to hold fortnightly social events, fitness challenges, social days – like the ladies used to have mums and pubs every Wednesday – but they had to go by the wayside.”
HORCC has created strong community connections by providing a sense of camaraderie on and off the track.
“We're about mountain biking,” Wayne said. “We also support a lot of community-based programs, such as women in sport, First Nations people in sport, working with them getting them bikes, and fundraisers for cancer.”
While the fences were up, the MTB community rallied to keep the club spirit alive, venturing to other parks while waiting for council to finish cleaning up the site.
“It was difficult, we had to ride out elsewhere, such as Mill Creek," Wayne said.
After the removal of 2200 tonnes of contaminated soil material, the council took away the fences, signalling a triumphant moment for the club.
“We are ecstatic,” Wayne said.
“We all went there to celebrate with a beer up there the day they came down.”
HORCC has already assembled a track design committee, ready to rebuild the site.
“I wanted to get started yesterday,” Wayne said.
The club is also eager to restart its social events after a difficult year.
“We're past that now, and we are just concentrating on getting back into the club back to being fully functional,” Wayne said.
“We've missed out on our social events.”
With the club's return to normalcy, Wayne is optimistic about attracting new members of all ages.
“It's such a growing sport, and anybody can do it,” Wayne said.
“Our oldest member is about 76 years of age, and he’s got an e-bike and he loves it.
“Having the track back means kids aren't in the way on the streets, they're not on devices, they're out playing."
Even with the fences down, the club needs help to clear remaining obstacles, such as weeds, and welcomes support from anyone willing to lend a hand.
“If anybody wants to keep an eye on the Facebook page when we post work, there's a lot of work to be done up there,” Wayne said.
“If they want to come up and give us a hand, even for only an hour, it doesn't matter – any bit of time is good."
If you’d like to help HORCC restore Helensburgh Mountain Bike Park, follow their Facebook page.
Read more about Council's works here and watch this short film about HORCC we made in 2022 to mark the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong.
