Slush Fund

The Backcountry Trust has just released their 2018-19 Performance Report. It’s uplifting reading with just over $300K spent on 27 huts and 15 tracks over the last 12 months. In addition 48 projects were approved worth a nudge over $400K.

Mt Pirongia is home of the Waipa MTB Club. Pirongia is an awesome maunga for building tracks, being an old volcano covered in mostly native bush. The Ground Effect Slush fund recently helped out with cash for the purchase of an electric wheelbarrow.

Experienced trail builders Jonathan Kennett, Jeff Carter and Chris Mildon have collaborated with track builders and land managers around New Zealand to develop the NZ MTB Trail Design & Construction Guidelines.

The Queenstown Mtb Club Junior Sub-Committee has been busy educating the youth of today on how to play their part in the maintenance and development of trails. So they got Ground Effect on board and with $900 cash from the Slush Fund were able to purchase a bunch of kid friendly tools.

The ants of Dungog Common have been at it again, three more pallet bridges eaten away. A request was made by Dungog Commoners Inc. for more funding to upgrade the bridges and make them less appealing to ants. $1100 Ground Effect Slush Fund dollars later, with volunteer labour from the club, the job is done.

In summer 2018 the Kerikeri Mtb Club got underway with their new up track in Waitangi Forest. Volunteers cleared a track through the gorse, and then handed over to the digger to cut the 3km of trail. The Ground Effect Slush Fund helped out with $1000 towards digger hire.