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What's happening at Freedom jumps?
I have noticed as I am going by on the bus over the last few days there has been some sort of contractor mob at freedom jumps with the gate open.
Does anyone know what is happening there? Are they building or demolishing?
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Demolishing.
Warringah Council is taking the running with looking for an alternative site.
Again, council dont learn do they!
Another excellent dirk jump park, built by the people that ride them for free! ruined by Council, with the promise one will be built in a better location.
Dirt jumpers, dont always want one to be built for them (Grove), half of the sport is designing, building, yes they would have to build to a safe standard.
Drinving by the other day and saw the diggers and all i could think of was (not again), Got on the phone to Trailcare, they mentioned yes council made a decision to demolish and find a new more suitable site.
Where are local Dirt Jumpers going to ride now in the meantime, with the Grove being a bmx track?
I can just imagine the look on the face of the young ones that may ride there also when they come for there after school ride
50% of dirt jumping is the construction and maintenance of the jumps.
No dig no ride!!
The council has the perfect opportunity to nurture the immense amount of talent just as the Canadians have done as you can see in the new Strength in Numbers movie about "Post Office Jumps".
All these guys started out the same as our local talent but didnt get crushed by teh local council and eneded up pushing each other to high levels in the sport.
http://youtu.be/vH2vAfdNWy0
Was going to include that in my post, saw it on Rotor the other day, however could not for the life of me remenber the title, thanks for posting!
Somebody please show this to council, Seriously!
For 12 bucks this is such an awsome movie to get.
I would recommend this to any MTBer.
Freedom Riders and TrailCare have been working towards a positive outcome for DJ in the region since June last year.
The Freedom Riders are some of TrailCares hardest working members. We hope to get more people on board soon for other projects, many people are keen. However our time has been mostly taken up fighting fires. We will have a program soon for wider involvement. It's a hard balance between dealing with issues vs. getting more people involved on top of work and family.
Together we have been in liaison with Manly and Warringah Councils since we halted the demolition last September.
The outstanding issue has been insurance and risk. The main issue here is not the activity but that there is not enough documentation for the risk managers and the insurer to be comfortable with the design and construction.
To address this we met with the insurer on site to look at what we needed to put together and are we are now developing design guidelines for the insurer. This has the support of Councils lawyer, IMBA and Statewide Mutual whom also insures 136 other NSW councils.
The final nail in the coffin for Freedom was in the end not so much unresolvable insurance, more the limitations of the site as a public DJ facility.
The Freedom representatives in our meeting with the two Councils agreed to demolish the site based on Councils support for us to find an alternative site as a priority.
We are currently drafting the Council resolution required to kick start this process which had strong support at the meeting to which around 12 people attended, mostly from Warringah.
I don't think you can criticise council on this issue. There was no approval for the jumps in the first place.
When it was brought to their attention they went down the standard path and sought demolition. Thats exactly what they do with any unauthorised construction on private property when someone puts up a carport etc without a DA.
The only way your going to get dirt jumps that don't get demolished is to get the landowners permission and then get the planning approval which appears to be whats happening now. Most ratepayers wouldn't expect council to exempt mtb riders from the rules.
If everything was planned in advance, however, we are not living in a perfect world and local kids/teens adults will always build jumps on unused land.
Just about every walking track that has ever been made official started its life as an unofficial trail.
A surfer may land on someone else at the beach, however we dont shut the beaches.
We are not talking about houses here or land that would ever be used for anything.
If kids cant build jumps and ride them without the council hovering over them shaking with fear from litigation,then we have some serious fundamental issues.
If there where no unofficial jumps,how would you show the need for official jumps.
What I am frustrated with is the aparent lack of understanding/respect of the usergroup.
At the grove,we saw the council demolish a world class dirt jump park,and replace it with a glorified bmx track which is so out of touch with its intended usergroup its not funny.
Forgive me for having a bit of deja vu.
Awesome work,its looks like you have put many hours in so far, however its sad to see freedom go.
Really like the fact you are fixing the design guidlines issue with the insurer. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
The Freedom riders are doing most of the work, I'm just doing a bit of coordination and using the TrailCare name.
This is kind of what TC is about. Become a focal point for facilitation and also use our contacts and resources to help riders help themselves.
These guys joined TrailCare and all credit goes to them.
They are also helping us out at Red Hill for XC, AM and gravity.
For a while I tried to support the formalised process. I supported Council building The Grove, was excited about a Council-approved and constructed facility, offerred them polite constructive advice along the way, I went riding there even when nobody else did, I gave polite, constructive feedback regarding required maintenace, I tried to adapt to the new layout without complaining. But when my suspicions were confirmed by other riders - that the surface/soil of the track is shite (a fundamental problem!) - and Council refused to perform maintenance I walked away. And I won't be lending my support again. The Grove is now a great big white elephant than nobody uses and represents dissapointment (that a great facility was formerly there but intentionally demolished), wasted money and embarrassment (what must the general community think of mtb'ers when we campaign so long and hard and cry needy and then we don't use what we're given). The whole process worked against our cause, rather than for it. Illegal tracks that actually get used (because they are good) are better for the environment than white elephant replacements.
While a White Elephant it was a major turn around for the Council.
It is also an example now used by many riders and local and state government as something no one wants to repeat.
Not really the intended outcome but peoples efforts were not lost completely.
It will also likely not meet the DJ Design Guidelines we are developing. It's really nothing that can't be flattened and rebuilt if there are still enough people who care about the site.
There are a number of safety concerns with it which we have sent to Council and their insurer.
While it comparatively cost a lot compared to Castle Cove I have seen councils spend a lot more to lose in Land and Environment Court defending unusual decisions made against my clients.
It's all really a sign of the state of Council resourcing and all we can do is continue to work with them and try and help them help us.
And unfortunately for most of us and so long as we respect land owners, environment and sensitive sites we have no option at the moment other than riding unofficial trails as we have done for at least 30 years.