BMX track approved

By Paul Dunlop
A BMX track will be built at Emerald in a move authorities hope will stop bicycle riders making their own jumps and tracks in bushland away from the public eye.
Cardinia Shire Council on Monday approved plans for a new track to be developed on the Pepi’s Land reserve on the BeaconsfieldEmerald Road.
The track will be built as part of plans to develop the reserve into a community park.
Walking paths, toilets, a ‘village green’ and other landscaping and tree planting works are also in the pipeline.
Emerald BMX enthusiasts previously had a track at nearby Hogans Park in Kilvington Drive, but this was declared unsafe by the council.
Councillors’ approval for the new track was unanimous.
Despite council receiving three objections from residents, Cr Graeme Legge said there was general approval in the community for the facility.
Objectors had said the BMX track would destroy the visual outlook and tranquil nature of the area.
They were concerned it would create dust and noise and prompt antisocial behaviour.
Objectors said the land was owned by the council and therefore should be available to all residents and not just a select group.
Cr Legge said people had a right to object but was satisfied permit conditions would address concerns.
An officers’ report to councillors said the track would provide a positive activity for young people in the Emerald district. Cr Legge said the issue would remain open to ‘rigorous discussion’ in the leadup to the track’s development.
Cr Leonora Cox said the track at Hogan Park was no longer useable and the absence of facilities had at least partly forced the town’s BMX club to go into recess two years ago.
“This is a fairly lowkey BMX track,” she said of the new facility.
“It is a recreation track for kids to ride on and I hope it will enable the club to get up and running again.
“I would like to see this track going as soon as possible.
“It certainly can’t happen soon enough for the kids,” she said.
The council was told the Department of Sustainability and Environment had initially called for access to Hogan Park by BMX riders to be restricted by constructing a fence along its eastern boundary.
Councillors agreed with town planners who said suitable landscaping would be more appropriate than a ‘hard fence’.