Teens’ homemade BMX jumps destroyed for safety reasons

A group of Grange teenagers who spent countless hours building homemade BMX bike tracks have been left devastated after a council flattened their constructions.

A group of Grange children who spent countless hours building a homemade BMX bike track have been left devastated after a council removed their construction.

For a number of years, families have asked The City of Charles Sturt to create something of substance along Sunset Crescent in Grange, adjacent to the train station.

Tyson, Noah and Blake now hope Charles Sturt Council will build something to replace their wrecked works. Picture: Dean Martin

When nothing was done, a number of proactive local children picked up their tools and got to work building a series of bike jumps.

“We just wanted something local that we could all enjoy,” Tyson, 12, said.

Tyson, 12, along with a dozen of his mates have spent a better part of the last month building a bike track at Grange. Pic: Supplied

“We want something to do and somewhere to go on the weekend and after school.”

Tyson along with his mates Noah, Blake and the rest of the cohort spent the better part of the last month building up the tracks with dirt mounds of different heights to showcase their talent.

Earlier this week the group were devastated to find out all their hard work was going to be demolished.

“We were told on Tuesday it was going to go, I was down here when they did it, it was pretty sad,” Tyson said.

A number of local residents were also disappointed to hear about the track’s outcome, praising the initiative from the boys.

“I thought this was a great outlet for children to get outside on their bikes and getting exercise rather than being cooped up inside with their electronic devices,” local dad Dan Jones said.

“I have been asking for years for the council to build play equipment and exercise equipment on the Sunset Cres reserve for the local families to use.

“If the council are going to do this, they need to build more public playgrounds, bike tracks for kids and exercise equipment in local parks/reserve so that it is walking distance from their homes.”

However, the council’s decision didn’t deter the group, sparking an online petition with over 150 signatures asking council to either reinstate the bike track or build something sufficient for the children to ride on.

The boys are confident they can come up with a solution, working with council to provide them somewhere to go. Picture: Dean Martin

“Another spot down at Brickworks went through the same thing, they got over 700 signatures and council listened to them, hopefully they do the same with us,” Tyson said.

A City of Charles Sturt spokesman said the demolition of the track was in no way a deterrence from kids seeking active lifestyle, but merely an opportunity to be able to build something for the whole community.

“When it was brought to our attention, it didn’t meet a number of our by-laws and if someone was to fall over, we as a council have a duty of care,” said the spokesman.

“We have to make it safe but we don’t want to crush it and tell them to go away, there is obviously a need for it and now we will look at what we can do on the site to keep everyone happy.

“The best way to let us know is by submitting a community petition.”