Elsie Lange
Sunbury BMX Club secretary Shawn Hindmarsh feels defeated when he turns up to the track to find it’s been ripped up by remote control cars – it’s up to volunteers to fix the mess.
Pictures posted on social media show tyre tracks criss-crossing the smooth mounds, otherwise level, safe and ready for the next lot of riders to take off.
“We probably spend over a thousand man hours a year on maintaining the track to keep it at a safe level,” Mr Hindmarsh said.
“We’re working with [Hume] council at the moment to try and get the track to be an all-weather track, so less damage will get done from rain and also less damage from remote controlled cars and misuse of the track as well.”
While upgrades from council are on the way to the track, Mr Hindmarsh said they are taking “a long, long time”.
Hume’s city planning and places acting director James McNulty said council worked collaboratively with the club to prepare and maintain the facility.
“We recognise the contribution of volunteers to the club and in maintaining the track. To reduce the level of future maintenance required on the track, we’re investing $240,000 in improvements,” he said.
“This includes upgrades to the berms to asphalt, track modifications and drainage works. When complete, the new asphalt berms will significantly reduce the level of maintenance required on the track.”
Mr McNulty said the project is currently in the planning and design stage and would be completed in the 2022-23 financial year.
In the interim, Mr McNulty said council provided the club materials such as crush rock to maintain the track surface, as well as machinery and equipment to enable the club to maintain the track and storage facilities.
Nine-year-old Jack Stephan loves the Sunbury BMX track and just wishes it wasn’t vandalised or misused by the public.
“We want other BMX clubs to see our track looking good, not covered in graffiti. It annoys me when we have to clean up other peoples’ mess all the time,” he said.
In a Facebook post, Jacksons Ward councillor Jarrod Bell said while on “face value” it might seem like the perfect spot to have fun with a remote controlled car, “it causes real damage which volunteers have to repair to ensure the track is safe”.
“The Sunbury BMX track is not designed to be a [remote control] car track, please don’t use it as one,” Cr Bell said.
