The Club will not be able to run the Capel 200 Trail Bike Rally in 2026, our recreational non-competitive event that has been run safely and sustainably on the same trails and on just one day each year for the past 48 years.

It has now become far too difficult, stressful and uncertain for our volunteer members to obtain event approvals from a number of government approval agencies, which in recent years have introduced unprecedented, inconsistent and changing approval conditions that are in some cases unaffordable.

Approval for our events has been relatively straightforward In previous years and the events have not changed, yet these requirements have increased significantly in recent years and created a level of uncertainty that makes it unviable for the Club to plan ahead and run events.

This situation also has a significant knock-on impact, because the Capel 200 is the Club’s main fundraiser and has provided funding for many local community initiatives over many years. Consequently the Club will not have sufficient funds or resources to run our free public entry Capel River Classic Show & Shine community event in October 2026 or any other future local community initiatives. It has also cancelled out the decades of personal effort and commitment of our volunteer members, many of which are understandably now unwilling to assist.

Whilst this is a very disappointing outcome for the Club, our volunteer members and obviously also attendees of our events, it is also a very poor outcome for the local Capel community as these events have brought thousands of visitors to Capel and the Club has reinvested $111,000 back in to the Capel community over the past 14 years.

Local community events and the economic benefits that they bring are extremely valuable to small regional towns such as Capel, and the impact of this uncertain environment has completely overridden the community, recreational and economic benefits that our events have generated.

You may be able to assist the Club by communicating any concerns or support to:

• Hon Ms Jodie Hanns MLA, Member for Collie Preston, Tel: 9734 2073, E: Jodie.Hanns@mp.wa.gov.au

• Hon Don Punch MLA, Minister for South West, Tel: 9791 3636, E: bunbury@mp.wa.gov.au

We really appreciate all the past support for our events and we are hopeful that we will be able to recommence our traditional Capel 200 and other community events sometime in the future.