Kids’ bid to make tracks

By Bridget Brady
BORED youths in Blind Bight have called on Casey council to build a bike track in their town.
The youngsters ride their bikes around the streets of Blind Bight most days and say they make their own tracks in bushy areas, but they are usually covered over within a few days. They want an exciting track built with jumps and obstacles, and the site that has been flagged for the track is near the car park of the Blind Bight Community Centre.
Resident Bob Wray said there was no football field or sporting facilities for them to use, and a bike track was a reasonable request.
“There is nothing for them to do in Blind Bight and they’ve only got the road to ride on.”
He said other facilities in nearby coastal villages were too far away for children to get to by themselves.
Fifteen-year-old Scott said he got bored living in Blind Bight, and “heaps” of kids would use a bike track if it was built.
“These school holidays are going to be the worst,” Scott said.
“I sit on the computer because it kinda gets boring riding your bike all of the time.”
The bus services in Blind Bight were poor and limited the options for children to go elsewhere in the City of Casey, Scott said.
Mother of four Sally Vicino said her children often requested she take them to Kooweerup or elsewhere for something to do in the holidays because Blind Bight offered little entertainment.
“It would be great to have something,” she said.
“If they were given an allocated area that would great.”
Due to the strict environmental controls in the town, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is in discussions with the council regarding various sites for the proposed track.
DSE acting group manager of public land services Sally Burgess said any potential sites needed to be assessed against the various criteria in the Victorian Coastal Strategy 2008.
“There is general community support for the track, with a suitable location being the only foreseeable issue at present,” Ms Burgess said.
Mr Wray said the track would not need to be a huge expense for the council.
Casey’s manager of recreation and leisure Richard Amon said the average cost of a BMX track was about $30,000.
“It is highly unlikely that DSE would provide permission for council to clear any land on the Blind Bight foreshore, due to the fact that it is situated on an internationally significant Ramsar wetland,” Mr Amon said.
He said a site for the bike track was not specified in the petition.