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One of my friends has, I'm proud to say, decided to lobby her local council to get them to build a tarmac pump track in the local park for the local kids on their bikes and skates.
Needless to say the local Daily Mail types have immediately deluged the local paper saying that if this goes ahead gay asylum seekers will use it to spread communism, the usual knee jerk nonsense.
To fight this she could really use some back up examples and evidence from similar projects (BMX tracks, pump tracks, bike areas etc) that have been positively received.
Has anyone on here been involved in such a scheme or would be kind enough to prod me in the right direction.
Keen to help her but dont know the right people.
Would probably be worth a word with Velosolutions https://velosolutions.com/en/
They did the Inverness one near me and it's just fantastic.
Sandwell valley nr West Brom?
Velosolutions were kinda the inspiration for this and I know shes used thier videos in her pitch to the council.
Is there a 'friends of inverness pump track' type ground she could get a statement from regarding its positive impact on the area etc etc.
the velosolutions one in Edinburgh is called the Skelf, they have a facebook page you could contact them on. They've certainly had and still have some battles with nimbys and anti social behaviour but it's a popular track.
Bruntwood park and platter fields in Manchester both have full sized bmx tracks with active youth groups there. It's a great community resource, loads of percents with their kids in balance bikes legging it about
Have a look on google for Wetherby red kite bike trails.
i haven’t been but hear nothing but good reports of a pump track they built in the town.
Excellent idea, well executed and got widespread support from both council and community as I understand it.
turned a derelict bit of land into a community asset
I did The Skelf one.
Can assist, but am boarding a plane to Prague.
Get my number off the Skelf website and gimme a call Wednesday or after.
Message WorldClassAccident from the forum, I'm pretty sure he's got history of this kind of thing and may offer some words of wisdom.
Club near me has done a lot of BMX building
also
http://www.hettonhawks.org.uk/
You'd just have to try an email with some questions. All great clubs doing good things for the community. Maybe try contacting someone involved in go-ride at British cycling?
The Inverness one is run by volunteers from Highland Skate Park Association. You'll find them via google.
I'm trying to do something locally too (Brighouse), Velosolutions have been vert informative but they couldn't provide this kind of info. Neither could Leelikesbikes which was surprising.
I did find a couple of positive articles, please email me so we can share info.
mugboo@gmail.com
I did Southampton bike park.
a year of consultation, meeting and general admin bollox before the first shovel hit the dirt.
If you you make it from dirt instead of Tarmac you avoid a lot of rules and regs about building consent etc because all you are doing is moving dirt into piles.
Email me me if you want copies of my proposal docs etc. Come and ride the SouthamptonBike Park if you are in the area
We have a brand new Velosolutions track which is being officially opened shortly.
Might be worth getting in touch with Dan at Socialtrack who was heavily involved in getting it built in partnership with council and community groups
Nothing but positive press so far ....
^ I'm going to try and get a few Skelf guys through to your opening
Telford has loads and a national track .I'm yet to see an issue .kids have always been awesome and it gives them something to do .
Clark&Kent are big in the track building world .
Also try messaging your local BMX club (if you have one)
Blah, blah, blah, kids these days, always playing on X-boxes or watching telly or hanging around. When we were young we rode bikes everywhere.
What’s that? You want your kids to ride bikes near my house? No, you can’t ride bikes here. It’s ‘no cycling’ on this path, you know. I didn’t pay ‘x’ hundred thousand for my house to have a bunch of hoodlums on bike nearby, don’t you know.
****ers.
99% of the nimbys will not have a original argument that has not been delt with by someone before. Tell us thier objections and I bet there are people on here that have already given the cointer arguments.
Kids getting healthy exercise they wouldn't do stuck indoors on gadgets. Less likely to go and stab you or hassle you for booze hanging out by shops. etc. Plenty of positives to counter the arguments.
Though there's likely one miserable bastard driving it who reckons his/her life is being ruined by bikes.
Clark and Kent make good tracks but also try Dirtworks, Mr Hudu is a legend.
I'm club secretary at Bruntwood Park BMX Club, I wasn't involved with the redevoplment of the track but our club chairman and a few friends were heavily involved in it.
Pump tracks are great but try and build a community around it as there are lots that councils have built then left to nature to reclaim.
If I can be of help just drop me a message. Whilst it takes most of my weekends up and means I don't ride the mountain bike enough I love being part of it and watching the riders progress through the ranks.
Steve
I honestly believe a lot of the Skelf objectors were dog walkers who enjoyed having somewhere where their dogs could shite all over the place. They said they wanted to save the trees and protect the wildlife but I don't believe it, they were happy it was a shitehole and wanted it to stay like that.
Edit. After seeing the comment above the Skelf guys have done a great job planting hedges and trees etc to soften the area. One old guy has created a lovely flower bed next to the pumptrack.
I helped Clark & Kent (C&K Contractors) build the Portsmouth pump track last year.
They did the Olympic bmx track for 2012 so come with bags of credibility for the white haired folk who sit on councils making decisions.
They can help make the anti nimby, pro riding arguments as can their former clients
Thanks chaps, I've passed this onto her, they've apparently submitted thier initial proposal but if its rejected she'll need all the firepower she can get to push back with.
Like several posters above the whole miserable git mentality that dismisses young 'uns as lazy but fights tooth and nail to prevent them being given somewhere to have fun outside boils my piss, which is why Im so keen to help.
We have a brand new Velosolutions track which is being officially opened shortly.
Might be worth getting in touch with Dan at Socialtrack who was heavily involved in getting it built in partnership with council and community groups
https://socialtrack.co.uk/
/a>Nothing but positive press so far ….
Can you go down any time mate? I'm in Hamilton and was going to take a run over
Deadkenny
my instant response to a miserable ****er like that is ‘phone the police then’
they never ever do, in fact, it usually stops them in their tracks.
if you’re legal then the police won’t be interested. Just keep repeating, ‘phone the police then’ no matter what they say. And record it of course.
Cardronna pump track