Aunty Diann Tremain says the proposal for a bike track is an insult to country

Aunty Diann Tremain said she was "wholly against" the proposal for five paths, as were many in both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities

"That's simply because Eastern Hill has been a pathway for Aboriginal people long before white settlement," the Albury resident said.

Aunty Diann - a member of the advisory panel representing key community stakeholders with the job of collaborating on master plan refinements- said more people were against than were in favour of the proposal.

"Aboriginal people used to walk from Mungabareena across the hill down to what's now South Albury," she said.

"South Albury was a burial ground for Aboriginal people."

Twelve months ago, the council revealed a blueprint for the redevelopment of Eastern Hill in East Albury under which $4.73 million would be spent on mountain bike tracks, lookout works and a new roundabout.

Albury's mountain bike plan in 2021 recommended a small-scale network of paths on Eastern Hill to ease the pressure on the popular mountain biking destination of Nail Can Hill.

The advisory panel was formed by the council after it considered findings from a public exhibition of the draft Eastern Hill Activation Master Plan on April 11, 2023.

It includes councillors and representatives of the Albury Access Committee, Mungabareena Aboriginal Place Management Group, Friends of Eastern Hill, Albury Wodonga Mountain Bikers,the Rotary Club of Albury, Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Youth Council.

Service Leader for City Landscapes David Costello said the panel had identified "several solutions and refinements" to the draft master plan recommendations that would be presented to the council for further consideration later this year.

"Given Eastern Hill's close proximity to Mungabareena Reserve, one of the master plan's key principles is spiritual activation that seeks to use story-telling, education and connection through interpretive signage, artistic interventions, and cultural and community connection to the landscape," Mr Costello said.

Once endorsed by the council, the plan would be subject to "due diligence" before implementation.

"(That) would include environmental and cultural heritage surveys as part of design investigations to minimise any impact on environmental and cultural values."

Aunty Diann said Eastern Hill had "a real cultural significance about it".

"Where there's a memorial chair right out on the point of Eastern Hill they've found stone flakes, where Aboriginal people sat and made tools," she said.

"It's a very important place. They used to camp at Mungabareena and walk across the mountains up to Bogong and collect the moths.

"There's a heap of cultural significance for that whole area. For anybody who has any sort of environmental background, why would you want to have five bike paths on what's a beautiful hill for people to walk on."

Aunty Diann said some people did ride bikes on the hill, but not as some kind of racetrack.

"We hope the end result is that there are no bike paths, but I don't know whether we will be going to have the success we hope for. That's the problem," she said.

"Council is not listening to the majority of the people who don't want bike paths there, and it's not just the Aboriginal people but the non-Indigenous community who have put submissions.

"The council does not seem to be listening to what the people want."

Albury Wodonga Mountain Bikers treasurer Brad Spinelli, however, had a different spin to the argument.

He said Eastern Hill should be able to be used to everyone in the region, regardless of their background.

"Everyone should be able to use the hill for recreation purposes," he said.

"We feel that putting mountain bike tracks on the hill doesn't preclude Indigenous people from using the hill in any way.

"Everyone can share the hill for whatever purpose they wish to."

Mr Spinelli said it also gave East Albury residents and younger children who may not be able to travel further away an opportunity to ride their bikes, especially when they live close by.

The opposition to the bike paths aligns with the concept of "preserving country" that has been the focus of a new walk and talk series in the same area.

Two walks so far have been held, the latest taking place on Sunday, July 30, where there was a sharing of knowledge about Indigenous people's history and their connection to Mungabareena.

Dhudhuroa and Yorta Yorta man Johnny Murray was joined by members of the Friends of Eastern Hill for a one-hour guided walk for the chance to "get in nature, view the native plants, and connect to country".

Mr Murray said it was important to bring together like-minded people.

"It's for a greater cause and the protection of Eastern Hill," he said.

"The more we know about country and the more we are out in country, the more connected to country we will be.

"When we feel connected to country or a place, we take on that custodianship of caring for country. More opportunities to connect with country are important, and that's why the Friends of Eastern Hill walk and talk was so significant."

Helping organise the afternoon was Albury's Annette Baker, who said it was "very, very special".

"Johnny spoke beautifully about his story, where he was born, why he moved to the area and the events that used to happen at Mungabareena," she said.

"It really provided people with identifying the seasons, and it was the perfect continuation of our walk and talk series."

Wiradjuri language and culture educator Ruth Davys said the walks aimed to develop relationships.

"Johnny is not Wiradjuri, but we support each other in this community," she said.

"It's Wiradjuri country, but we have many mixed mobs living here, and those people also contribute in some ways.

"Connection to country leads to connection to people, connection to culture. It's important to increase the awareness to country."

Knowledge was shared of First Nations' history and connection, including the resettlement scheme of the 1960s and 1970s.

Mrs Baker said it was "a beautiful walk" and "it's important to continue being educated about Mungabareena land".

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