After reading the Skelf thread it got me thinking, there's not a great deal in Peterlee to ride on bikes- a very poor attempt at a concrete skate park in Shotton and a few scary metal surface mini ramps in Easington but no pump track anywhere in town.
I've sent a query using an online form to Peterlee town council and received a very positive response, certainly loads more upbeat than I hoped for 🙂
I don't know where to go from here though, it was suggested that I get in touch with local groups but I don't know of any local MTB or BMX clubs other than the NE BMX club at Hartlepool.
How have others got started?
We have one in the pipeline - organised by council / local community group / Central Scotland Green Network Trust / Local MTB club
Does the council have a sports development officer (or similarly titled employee)? For the council to do it they'll have to have some land that they can use for the purpose and then fund it. It's possible that they have a pot of money for capital investment in sports but depends on the council and if they use money for this then they have to justify not spending it on something else.
You need to present a use case: there's X number of riders interested in this who are otherwise using inappropriate and potentially dangerous sites. That sort of thing. If there's been letters in the press about "hooligans on bikes" or similar then use them to your advantage.
Start your own group.