City councillor hopes to put Halifax on the world mountain biking map with regional strategy

This week, the Chronicle-Herald reported, a motion was put before the Halifax Regional Municipality with an ambitious purpose in mind: to create a regional mountain bike strategy that would make Halifax an Atlantic coast destination for MTB aficionados worldwide.

The motion was made on Sept. 19, with Halifax-Burnside-Dartmouth East city councillor Tony Mancini its principal advocate.

Such a strategy would, if adopted, make the Nova Scotia city similar to provinces like British Columbia, which already has its own version in the form of a Mountain Bike Tourism initiative. Western Australia also has a variation on the strategy. In short, the objective is to officially map out and identify existing Halifax mountain bike trails, as well as ones that may yet be developed, and identify sources of funding for their development, expansion and maintenance.

Additionally, a regional mountain bike advisory committee would guide decision-making pertinent to the strategy, with notable representation from the MTB community itself.

Explaining the idea in a prepared statement, Mancini wrote, “A local cycle shop noted that their sales of mountain bikes had increased 25 percent over the last two years alone. [Halifax Regional Municipality], with its variety in terrain and coastal trail opportunities, has immense potential to become a destination point for this sport.”

Such a strategy, Mancini’s statement continues, would also have a stewardship element, “[assisting] in protecting environmentally sensitive areas, reduce overuse of trails and direct participants to appropriate locations.”