Blind Bight’s James jumps Graham Elso and Shirley Wharton, who stand in an impressive hole dug by local kids. Picture: Luke Plummer.
By Sarah Schwager
BLIND Bight residents are fed up with the lack of facilities for their town’s youths.
In recent weeks, some local children have spent their spare time building an elaborate series of bike tracks and jumps at the Blind Bight foreshore to keep themselves entertained.
Palings have been ripped from the fence surrounding the public toilets and from park benches at the foreshore to make the jumps and balancing beams.
Blind Bight’s Graham Elso said while the jumps were impressive, they were dangerous and risked harming the natural habitat.
Mr Elso said it was high time the City of Casey Council built a bike track to make up for the lack of facilities for teens in the area.
“The only thing here for kids is a preschoolers’ playground and a basketball half court,” he said.
The closest bike facilities are a skate park at Tooradin and a BMX track at Warneet.
But there are no safe bike paths for the children to ride to their neighbouring towns.
Blind Bight 13-year-old James said the kids had built the jumps and a bike track, dubbed the north shore track, because there was nowhere else to go and they did not want to ride on the roads to get to Tooradin.
When the News visited the bike track we came across a group of youths who had ridden 20 minutes from Cannons Creek along the South Gippsland Highway and Warneet Road to get to the man-made jumps.
Resident Shirley Wharton said the kids just wanted something to keep them entertained.
“We’re just asking for a couple of booms and jumps – we’re not asking for a race track,” she said.
Casey mayor and Balla Balla Ward councillor Colin Butler said the problem was that there was nowhere in Blind Bight to build a skate park.
“We have the funding for it but there is nowhere to put it,” he said.
“We don’t put skate parks in the middle of residential areas.”
Mr Elso highlighted an empty block on Anchorage Drive owned by the council, which he said could be used to build the park, but Cr Butler said it was too close to residential properties.
He also ruled out Cannons Creek as a possible location.
“There is the possibility of building one in Warneet on DSE (Department of Sustainability and Environment) land,” Cr Butler said.
“The other alternative is to build a walking track between Blind Bight and Tooradin, but there is a fair bit of planning and investment needed for that.”
Cr Butler said the council was looking into the possibility of constructing a portable skate park to take around to the coastal villages.
The council used to own a portable skate ramp which was placed in Blind Bight, but it rusted out and was no longer safe to use.
Mr Elso said the land around the foreshore was far too fragile to be messed with.
Some of the wildlife in the area includes echidnas, blue tongue lizards and frogmouth owls, as well as the precious mangroves.
“The kids are creative, they’re bored and there’s nothing else for them to do,” Mr Elso said.
“But if they continue to make these bike tracks they are going to wreck the environment.”
