Young bikers use Selwyn council dirt to get creative

Young cyclists around the district are testing their acrobatic skills thanks to a clever initiative by the Selwyn District Council that turned a vandalism problem into a creative opportunity.

The Council Parks and Reserves team launched a pilot project last school holidays to enable local bikers to build their own jumps with dirt supplied by council in three parks in Leeston, Lincoln and Tai Tapu.

“We noticed that kids were digging up dirt in their local parks to create bike jumps and in the process they often destroyed the vegetation. Some councillors suggested we provide them with some dirt to build ramps and the idea has been a big success,” says Kieran Wall, Reserves Operations Manager at the Selwyn District Council.

The new jumps have been so well received by the community that the reserves team will be dropping off more dirt this week, so the youngsters can build better jumps in the upcoming school holidays.

“And we are going to supply them with clay, which is better soil to build jumps,” says Wall.

Fletcher Ramsell can’t wait for the new dirt to be delivered and says the clay is better to shape and make jumps.

“It's quite fun and we get to do more jumps, so we can practise doing our jumps,” says the 10-year-old from Lincoln

Reserves Manager Wall explains that his team put up signs to encourage the youngsters to get creative, which included a QR code for bikers and their parents to share feedback or ideas.

“We really want to encourage everyone who uses the jumps to fill out the quick survey. The more feedback we have from the community, the more informed we can be about the trial" says Wall.

Brandon Ramsell lives close to the Rosemerryn Reserve in Lincoln and says his son Fletcher and his friends use the pump track and the jumps regularly.

“It’s a great initiative and the kids love it,” says Ramsell.

“You can go around the pump track only so many times before it gets a bit repetitive, so having the dirt to create jumps has been terrific. They all have different skill levels, but you can see the boys egging each other on to make bigger jumps,” says Ramsell, who adds that any initiative to get youngsters off the couch has to be applauded.

“Our son is never home. After school he drops his bag, jumps on his bike and goes out with his mates to the park or other some other bike spots, and we won’t see him until it’s dinner time,” says Ramsell.

Councillor Denise Carrick is pleased to see that the council has enabled a simple and cost-effective initiative that gets so much use.

“It is great to see the young people making their jumps and doing what kids should do – playing in the dirt and being creative, and a low-cost initiative that gives them something constructive to do,” says the Lincoln councillor.

Wall says that the pilot has been such a success that the team will be adding a new site at Foster Park, Rolleston and is considering extending the trial to West Melton and other townships in the district.

“We are talking to our local councillors to decide what would be other good spots, and kids communicate in their own way that they need some dirt, when they start digging up the reserves to build their own jumps,” smiles Wall.