Cooloola BMX Club smashed by 2022 flood disaster

After 33 years of borrowed amenities, flooding disasters, a canteen floating away in the 2022 floods left the Cooloola BMX Club with weeks of repairs on their hands. As we continue to campaign to Save Our Sport, read the latest on how the popular sport is coping:

The Cooloola BMX has been swamped with repair work after the 2022 February floods left the club with a ruined track, damaged equipment and a rogue canteen floating down the road.

Now, a new addition to the facilities may be on the horizon after months of flood repairs.

Volunteers have packed hundreds of hours to continuously amend facilities after the track was ravaged by floodwaters and their canteen was swept away.

The committee arrived at the track at 6am on February 25 to find their refrigerated shipping container canteen had set sail on the floodwaters.

A trio of volunteers set out in a dinghy boat and relocated the canteen at Pengellys Bridge.

It was about 100m away from the track, BMX club president Richard Plukaard said.

The canteen was tied up and secured to the former basketball courts at Wises Rd as they waited for the floodwaters to recede.

It was then escorted to its home by generous pair of highway workers operating a crane.

Fridges, freezers and other canteen appliances were left unrepairable from the flood

Sheds, equipment, mowers and their track roller were able to be fixed.

Then there was the condition of the dirt bike track once the water receded.

The track is stabilised by a soil adhesive which would generally last 12 months, track director Cameron Hetherington said.

He said 800L of the adhesive to restore the track the flood damage consumed almost their entire year’s supply, Mr Hetherington said.

In an added blow the damage forced the AUS Cycling Queensland State Series Round 1 to be postponed for six weeks.

This story is a part of The Gympie Times campaign to save Gympie sport.

The pain from this year’s disasters did not stop there.

The track was operating for one week before the May floods swept through the grounds.

With more than 2000 visitors storming the ground for the club’s major event, amenities became a desperate need.

With no amenities of their own, the club has been borrowing toilets, showers and change rooms from the cricket and soccer clubs.

It was working with Gympie Regional Council for prospective amenities of its own, Mr Plukaard said.

The track is up and running again now, Mr Hetherington said, but the club’s surrounding areas are still waterlogged and unstable.

The club had been successful in two fund grants totalling $20,000 to replace their appliances, track adhesive and the shade shed uprooted by the rogue canteen.

The support shown to the Cooloola BMX Club has been “absolutely heartwarming,” Mr Plukaard said.

The Gympie Times is advocating for more sport fields and facilities in Gympie, with our SOS: Save Our Sport campaign. Sport is an integral part of the fabric of this region, is important for physical and mental health, staying connected and giving our young people something to do. It is vital that our local, state and federal representatives realise this importance and ensure infrastructure is maintained to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population.

If your club has a story to tell, please contact [e-mail]