Saddens me to hear that this is how things have unfolded in Studley Park. Likewise I'm devastated to hear that it's an end of an era with the pump track. From being a small project that was built in late 2006/early 2007 & served the bike community up until recently, it's been a great place for people to meet, hang out & cut hours upon hours of laps- it was a place that forged friendships among strangers; it helped create cohesion not only between the mtb, bmx & broader cycling community, but also with PV (believe it or not); it also served to stamp out what had been both a local beat, illegal dumping hot spot, & drop-in place for the local smack & meth heads (who were all dealt with very unceremoniously when I encountered them). It became a place where parents brought their kids on their bikes, where older mtbers brought their kids to play, where absolute novices came to hone there techniques & local shredheads gathered to shoot the breeze while trying to out do one another- it was a fun, safe environment for people of all walks with a love of two wheels to hang out, & while on paper it was an illegal facility I'll always be proud of the legacy it created as far as bringing people together & creating a fun, safe space for people of all ages. Hence the somewhat bitter taste that's been left in my mouth that there weren't more things done to stamp out the recent developments in the area.
Staunch, those who were/are long time regulars in the area & followers of the Yarra Trails thread know what's what, who's who & how its creation came about, likewise the very productive & mutually respectful relationships that had been developed with over a decade's worth of PV head rangers & PV staff from the Studley Park offices, prior to the recent explosion of illegal building in the last 3yrs. I was always appreciative of the fact that there were a group of equally minded guys who stepped up to take over the caretaking roll of the pump track once I took a secondment to NSW; coming back 12mths later to see that people with a similar passion for two wheels had decided to get involved made me happy because it meant that I could relinquish the baton & continue to stamp out the string of illegal & inappropriate trails being built & maintaining the main trails between Abbotsford & the Chandler as I had done since 2002, it was just unfortunate your crew didn't get in & shutdown the alternate jumps that were carved in next to it. Sadly the area seems to be a closed case now, but I'd certainly encourage you guys to connect with the Big JDs, CharlieDontSurfs & the host of other Burners & people who do give a shit about the bigger picture as far as petitioning for recognition of mtbers as a legitimate & conscientious user group of the area. PV are well aware that there are a large number of levelheaded & proactive riders who will step to the plate to stamp out inappropriate development in the area, but there needs to be evidence of these people taking action to shutdown the wonton building of random trail. I've no doubt that PV's current take on the Studley Park area is that there's no longer the regulating from within as there previously had been, just a complete free-for-all, so as such they have to go in hard in the absence of anyone else doing it to put a halt to the inappropriate trail development that has popped up since moving to Qld.