melbourne dirt jumpers

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mr whippy

Likes Dirt
hello. i want to try put a working group together to convince manningham council to give bike riders a legal place to build decent jumps. We need this because:
i'm sick of seeing all the decent jumps being bulldozed.
safety: all the good jumps are well hidden away, which is not very safe. somewhere with road access would be good.
our sport: it relies on younger ones 'coming up thru the ranks', but how can this be when there is nowhere legal and safe to ride?

What i'm proposing is a small working group, who can meet once a fortnight or so. decide what it is we want. petition bike riders and the local community, and then convince council of the benefits of our proposal.
i am not suggesting manningham coucil build the jumps, just access to land where they will not be bulldozed.

if anyone is interested in being part of this, please make a post here and we can get organised! also,if anyone has any suggestions to help, it would be appreciated.

Thanks. :)
 
C

curtisrider

Eats Squid
im too far a way from bullen, Balwyn so im pretty sure there are some others that live in Bullen on this site that would be happy to help
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
yeah...i live in lower plenty....so it's like a 10min drive to bulleen....

i'd love to help...

the one problem i can see is the one that happened in ivanhoe...
the guys petitioned for ages to get some legal djs built...and it happened...but they were restrictd as to what they could put there because it had to accommodate all skill levels and it was(i should say "is"...it's still there) a small piece of land.....most people who were involved got too good for the jumps and had to build another set of illegal ones.......which got bulldozed...

the real problem with the council letting u build on a piece of their land is that they're liable if anyone is injured (stupid americanised society we live in)....so we have to come up with some good arguments to counter that one if we're gonna be successful...

anyway...i have yr12 exams coming up so i couldn't be too involved until about december.....but i'm here if u want help

gavin
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
btw...it's great to see some people actually out there being active about something....rather than just bitchin and whining when things don't go their way!!!!

props to u mr whippy
 
C

curtisrider

Eats Squid
ivanhoe argh.

they bulldozed the first jumps cos of a few reasons, said if we revegatate the area and knock down the jumps they will give us land and dirt to build dj's on. It happened but with scraped up clay/rock/concrete stuff off the ground. they council also wouldnt let us dig into the ground, all the jumps had to be above the ground level, so it was a waste of time and was shit. Then the other jumps got built and they lasted maybe 7 or 8 months before some little shit stacked and broke his arm, his mom complained to the council, and goodbye jumps. The bit that pisses me off the most about this is that the council caused more damage getting the dozers into the jumps than we made building them, and that the council had had the dozers parked in a place for about a week and we didnt know. :evil:
 
M

mr whippy

Likes Dirt
i'm kinda hoping if we could do a petition( not only signed by bike riders who'd ride the jumps but by the community in general that they would prefer it that there is something positive for the kiddies to do) and also try to rationalise with the council.i.e. these jumps would be safer with easier road access (in case of accident), that kids are gonna build illegal ones anyway so they may as well work with us to do it in a way that minimises harm to the environment, and there would even be an argument that it's good for local tourism.

A few riders i've met have suggested they'd like to see more good learning jumps, so i was thinking if this happened i'd like to have a few small tabletops and smaller doubles, but also a damn nice 6 pack and maybe a coupla 25/30ft gap jumps. Hopefully this could address the needs of all levels of riders.

thanks for the advice guys. i believe if we can argue it properly we can see this happen.
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
Coollyney said:
i think in a the councils of aus have farked up on this topic.
we all know how many skate parks there are around, especially
in sydney as i know, there practically everywhere. spendin all this
money on concrete parks, hey i know most of em like em, hell
i do, i alos inline skate. but still, when ever we want a jump park, the council knocks us bak, so we make our own and then it just gets knocked
down, its absoulte bullshit. i say that for every skate park there should be
a council approved jump park, even if they do give us rulz for how big they can be. i still think it not kewl that this type of shit is goin on.
Click to expand...
from another thread........a great point that we could use if we got involved with the council
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
and petitions.....great in theory....and workable to a point....
but a council would much prefer us sitting down with them and talking about it....then going out and getting some ideas of response from the community (not just riders) rther than just throwing a list of names at them......i know we would want to work with them too if we got petitions happening but petitions can come accress as confrontational rather than cooperative.......
just a few points we should think about...
we need to ahve a fair idea of a plan of attack which includes plans for a park, possible locations, etc.
otherwise we just come accross as little kids who want a place to ride......we have to come accross as people committed to the community who are very proactive and are willing to put in the hard yards to get something built
i know heaps of people who could help w/ design, etc. so once my exams finish i'll make it my priority to set some wheels in motion!!!

cheers

gavin
 
M

mr whippy

Likes Dirt
we'll definately have to keep in touch over this. we should try to work with the council as much as possible. done properly hopefully both sides can address all concerns. council will be worried about liability, environmental issues, sustainability, locality etc. i think i'll try to get in touch with council this week, and find out who we'd have to deal with.
You are right though gavin, maybe instead of giving the council a final proposal of what we want we can set up a framework where we can all work together.

a petition might have it's place later on, not as a confrontational thing, but more to let the coucil know there is a community need that needs to be addressed.
i hate all this buracratic stuff, but it would be so worth it to have decent dirt jumps. :)
 
mtbdh_girl

mtbdh_girl

Likes Dirt
the chick in charge of stuff like this at manningham is resonably receptive- there is a new skatepark in the works for this area eventually. corey (inlina) and i will definatly help if poss. maybe it would be worth talking to the guy in charge of trails and access for the Fat Tyre Flyers MTB club (FTF Membership is based in the east/norht east), as i know he has a lot of council contacts- he may be able to point you in the rihgt direction. His name is Chris Bland. I don't know his contact but you could email the president rohin at info@ftf.com.au

keep me informed of what your plans are- im sure corey and i can help in some way.
 
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J3T-PuLsAr

Likes Dirt
Hi, ive been working with the banyule council for tha past year, one day a week. Ive spoken to the bout jumps, trails, skate parks n everything bike riding related. The don’t mind so much when u designate a certain area to make jumps if u keep that area clean and safe. Its hwen people start to throw rubbish everywhere, rip plants out, cut down trees and generally be stupid that they don’t like. If you could find a clear area say next to a footy oval or tennis club like the Ivanhoe ones that the council built. Then it might be abit easier. So my suggestion is, try ur best with the council get them to designate an area if u can. Do not let them talk u into using clean fill tho!!!!!! If u want me to find anything out for yas from my council just let me know and ill try do my best.

All the best.
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
hey there dude....
i live in banyule as well and would be interested in giving u a hand to get some stuff done for us bikers....
have u had any success getting stuff done??? i know there's meant to be a new skate park being built in greensy (i think that's covered by banyule)

get back to me, pm me, whatever...i'd love to lend a hand!!!
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
mtbdh_girl said:
the chick in charge of stuff like this at manningham is resonably receptive- there is a new skatepark in the works for this area eventually. corey (inlina) and i will definatly help if poss. maybe it would be worth talking to the guy in charge of trails and access for the Fat Tyre Flyers MTB club (FTF Membership is based in the east/norht east), as i know he has a lot of council contacts- he may be able to point you in the rihgt direction. His name is Chris Bland. I don't know his contact but you could email the president rohin at info@ftf.com.au

keep me informed of what your plans are- im sure corey and i can help in some way.
Click to expand...
it'd be great to work with ftf on this one...coz organisations like that carry a lot more weight when dealing with councils than we humble teenagers do (even though i'm 18 i can't imagine them taking me too seriously...)

i reckon it's best to go to the council rather than ring up...that way u have a better chance of getting heard and it's easier to make appointments, etc.

anyway...as i said earlier...i'm all up for doing some hard work...just gotta get yr 12 exams over with...

cheers
 
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J3T-PuLsAr

Likes Dirt
yeh there buildin the new skate park on the outdoor side maccas side of the plaza, well the park area on the otherside of that road.
 
C

Commander Dilsnikk

Likes Dirt
sounds good....
will mtbs be able to ride there???
and are there any plans to stop it turning into the place to hang, get pissed, get stoned and generally wreak havoc??
 
M

mr whippy

Likes Dirt
thank you all for messages of support. have started legwork. will msg her and let you know how it's going. yay!!! :)
 
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