DURING pandemic lockdowns, fourteen-year-old Oscar Price headed to the old dirt bike jumps of Alfredton Recreation Reserve to exercise and be entertained while there was not much else to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just around the corner, so I\u2019d come down during break times and after school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But when the City decided the jumps were risky, they were destroyed, so a group of parents and their proactive young riders, including Oscar and 12-year-old Lachlan Petrie, stood up to seek a solution.<\/p>\n
The brand new and accessible $60,000 Alfredton BMX track, which officially launched this week, is a result of their advocacy, and has been co-designed by them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a meeting very Wednesday to design a purpose-built track. The council put up ideas, and we said what we wanted to add to it,\u201d Lachlan said.<\/p>\n
The young people had one priority feature they wanted to see in the finished drawings; lots of fantastic jumps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said, add jumps, add jumps, add jumps… All we really wanted to do was jump,\u201d Lachlan said.<\/p>\n
Oscar said he\u2019s \u201cstoked\u201d with the outcome, which has already been attracting streams of riders daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re using it every day at the moment. When we drive past, mum will say, \u2018we built that,\u2019 and that we should be really proud of what we\u2019ve done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids are here before school, after school, until dark… Even parents are having a go. There\u2019s always someone here, even when it\u2019s wet.\u201d<\/p>\n
City of Ballarat mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the best way of knowing whether the municipality is \u201con the money\u201d with a project is seeing it well-used.<\/p>\n
\u201cI live nearby and walk past here a few times a week. Outside school hours, there\u2019s always someone on the track, and that\u2019s a sign that clearly it\u2019s popular and doing well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a $60,000 investment and if it hasn\u2019t been run over 60,000 times within a couple of months, then I\u2019ll be very surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis complex is going through such a revolution. One of the youngest populations in Ballarat live in the Alfredton and Lucas areas, so having this sports hub with footy, cricket, netball, bowls and a BMX track complements it really well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DURING pandemic lockdowns, fourteen-year-old Oscar Price headed to the old dirt bike jumps of Alfredton Recreation Reserve to exercise and be entertained while there was not much else to do. \u201cIt was just around the corner, so I\u2019d come down during break times and after school,\u201d he said. But when the City decided the jumps […]<\/p>\n