As some of you know I’ve become a Parish Councillor by Mistake 😉

I have my first meeting tonight and playing field & youth amenities are to be discussed.

I will suggest a Pump & Jump Track but want to sell it well. Anybody on here built or help develop one in there community? How did you go about it and was were typical costs etc.

I’m looking for words to try and explain to the older councillors. Giving all the pros and hopefully minimal cons.

Something like this looks quite nice.

m,ake sure you use words like “ownership” and “community” when you tell them how enthused the kids will be

Seriously, point out that this will give the kids something that they can “own” and as such they;ll look after it. Assuming that you know this will happen, of course

Where abouts are you? As far as costings go talk to these guys http://www.clarkkentcontractors.com/ .They are the best around.
Be prepared for a long haul and and a lot of conflict from the NIMBY’s.Its unlikely to be smooth going…

that looks REALLY expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you get what you pay for – don’t go buying a crap design thats useless for proper pumping / jumping

a good set up must be rollable for the likes of me but also rad for the raddishes

have you had any quotes from a “proper” designer and builder?

Stumbling blocks I’ve heard of in the past are things like gangs hanging around at such venues, doing dodgy things, making noise and scaring off all the genuine kids who want to skate/ride etc.

Having said that there are some good ones going up around and about the place. One in Hereford at the leisure centre IIRC, you might try finding out about that one since it’s not too different a place in some ways.

They often put up boards to be graffiti-ed, this may or may not dissuade people from graffiti-ing else where, I dunno. Few things to consider.

those tables look really long….

new one just been built in tavistock, search on facebook for tavi trails. I think it cost around £30k and had lots of support from the local youth cafe.

The big berm on the right appears to have a jump in the middle of it 😯

PROS = its not just a track – its a club, show them footage of Camp Woodward in the US and explain the educational / fitness / nutritional training benefits the club can aspire towards, line up some role model riders to sell the idea, get some stats of cycling increases in the uk / your area, look at the venue as a centre for cycle excellence and employ local BikeAbility instructors to use the venue as a base / classroom, get the local schools on board for cirricular activities, run winter evening bike maintainance courses, consider a cafe / shop for income………… just a few ideas – it doesn’t need to just be a track

Thanks for info and advice. Many things to consider but it has got the thought process moving a bit.

The picture above looks top notch. However, my parish wouldn’t be able to afford that in a 1000 years.

But labour and cheapish building material is not a problem.

Probably the biggest fear I have is knuckle brains on mini mopeds etc. 🙁 They destroyed the last youth shelter. Got to give them ownership as you say.

Ta Muchly.

PS Anymore info always welcome.

PS Camp Woodward 😯
http://www.campwoodward.com/action-sports/bmx/action-sports-facilities.html

don’t forget BMX is an Olympic sport and also the health benefits of kids being active – kids will hang around anyway (and people often wrongly perceive groups as aggressive rather than benign no matter what they are doing) at least with a pump track energy is being positively channelled – police may assist if nimbys need reassurance

interested as my daughter is keen and currently local kids have to be transported some distance to ride as nothing in our local area

here is a link to one recently opened in nearby north sheffield i don’t know any of the people involved though
http://friendsofcharltonbrook.co.uk/BMX_DAY/bmx.htm

Go buy “Welcome to Pump Track Nation” from leelikesbikes.com

It’s got plenty in it to convince people of the pro’s (and some con’s). You might have to anglicise some of the americanisms in it. It also shows there are some standards available for you to work to which can put the uninformed’s minds to rest.

SingletrAction have built 3 now at Stainburn, Thackley/Buck Woods and Dalby. Thackley was far more skills and progression as well as a PT but was built with CTC, Bradford MBC etc.

We’ve just costed re-building Stainburn’s and are waiting for confirmation from a local shop to see if they’ll fund it. Admittedly we (think ;-)) we know what we’re doing and so can save money there but with a combined plant / volunteer workforce approach the price should be several thousand. I see some of the prices people talk about for PT’s and it’s boggling. The combined approached also develops a feeling of “investment” locally, but it means a lot of hardwork organising it.

If you’re prepared to do it yourself or a combined contractor / volunteer approach you can achieve a lot.

IMO, a well built pump track can be cheap (relatively), low inherent risk, accessible to all (kids to OBWSKB), fairly low maintenace and good for skills plus cardio’.

If you want some more info email me but I can’t respond that soon because I’ve got a load of other stuff on (chairman@singletraction.org.uk).

Good luck 😉

This guy talked at IMBA Conference 2010. If you can fathom his points from just the powerpoint presentation it’s a great scientific demonstration of how just a little more exercise, helped in part by increased facilities or a proportionally (to the cost of ill health) small investment can give significant, positive health returns.

http://www.imba-uk.com/uploads/CONF2010/kidsadultscyclingandhealth.pdf