BMX track gets final go-ahead amid angry scenes

Published 20 Aug 2009 11:00 16 Comments

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THE BMX track for Lower Earley was unanimously approved last night at a heated planning meeting.

Neighbours walked out in disgust as the five Wokingham borough councillors voted to allow the track in the Paddick Drive playing fields to go ahead, while some younger members of the audience cheered along with the Earley town councillors who dreamt up the plan.

Cllr Matt Deegan, one of the major brains behind the track plans, said afterwards: "It's common sense really, it's what's right for the community. We appreciate the concerns of the local residents, and PCSOs and youth wardens will police the site themselves. Too many people have ignored what the people of Earley wanted."

He said they would be glad that the council had "refused to back down" in the face of protests, and Cllr David Chopping, former chairman of the town's amenities and leisure committee, added: "It's a consequence of decades of hard work to find a suitable site, and despite the bully-boy actions of residents and the threats, it will be a great facility for the youth of Earley."

Neither councillor had a vote, since they are not on the planning committee, while two Earley town councillors who do sit on the committee, Jenny Lissman and Tim Holton, left the room for the debate and vote because of their interest in the track.

Campaigners confronted the councillors afterwards with accusations of "broken promises".

Philip Pyle, chairman of The Manor residents' association, spoke for the neighbours at the planning meeting. He told councillors: "It will be the largest track for 25 miles. Earley Town Council is trying to build a supermarket when a village shop is what is required. It will have a major detrimental impact on our community."

Other residents complained of "not being listened to" and made clear their worries about noise, anti-social behaviour and safety. The Chronicle reported earlier this year how some residents had even moved out of the area because of their concerns.

But Melissa Duncan, 17, a youth ambassador for Earley and Woodley outreach group Just Around the Corner (JAC), who used to live very near the proposed track site, spoke at the meeting on behalf of teenagers keen to have the facility.

She told councillors: "I know most of the young people in the area. The BMX track would be well used and is fully supported by the young people. If you don't go ahead with the idea you are going to let the young people in the area down."

Debate on the track focused on its size, 300m, and how much of a draw it would be to people living outside Earley, and whether the planned four parking spaces would be enough.

The planning committee ultimately agreed with Earley Town Council's argument that it was a local, not a regional facility, but decided that there should be a parking review after the track had been open for a year.

The town council will now draw up plans to get building work and landscaping work started.

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

Know-Dice
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Aug 20, 19:12
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Cllr Chopping is disingenuous to suggest that residents who are going to have "the right to peaceful enjoyment of your property" as per Article 1 of the Human Rights Act violated had or have undertaken any "bully-boy actions".

Earley Town Council, decided to locate the BMX track at Paddick Drive in secret session using a process that even the Councillor who invented the scheme is unable to explain. They then went on to draw-up full plans for the track before having the decency to consult with those that were going to be affected. This was followed by a sham "public consultation" where Paddick Drive was the only area named.

They even continued the rhetoric last night suggesting that a 300m track was local, comments from a BMX forum below show how far BMX riders will travel to a 300m non-competitive track:

#The quality of the track will determine how far people will travel. The old adage "build it and they will come" is something to bear in mind!!

#Even if you have a fantastic track on the doorstep the variety is always good...

#I have 2 tracks within 3 miles of my house. but I would be willing to travel across all of the uk and even to bits of France and Belgium.

#Sunday I travelled from Braintree Essex to Andover took over 2 hours to get there and 3 hours to get home over 250 mile round trip.

# On more than 1 occasion I have driven approx 75 miles to a 4 man gate 200m track in Hersden. Fantastic days there race days.

Earley Town Council have pushed this through regardless of the local residents, they have never once tried to reach an amicable solution the design has never changed from day one - so who is the bully-boy!!!

They even bullied their own councillor Lee Gordon-Walker into voting the party line.

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******
Aug 20, 19:17
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sam
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Aug 20, 19:45
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sounds like earley town council were up to no good in how they chose this site then. but still i think the ppl living nearby sound like nimbys. thats a small corner of a big park and will give kids something to do.

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Know-Dice
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Aug 20, 19:56
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Would be good if it was really local, but for sure that will not be the case.

Small corner actually nearly 30% :-(

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Jim
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Aug 20, 20:11
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It is a shame our elected local representative calling the residents who exercise their democratic rights peacefullly "bully boys"! Unfortunately as a result we are going to see this at our doorsteps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LDYsdTgz5U

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******
Aug 20, 20:12
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Reading Chronicle
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Aug 21, 08:34
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Duplicated comments deleted.

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sam
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Aug 21, 20:29
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Jim, im sure you've see "youve been framed" should we outlaw weddings, swings, grandparents danceing, kids nativity pays and paddling pools in Earley as well? I'm sure you must have serious concerns about all those as well. Incidently the guy in the video made a full recovery and still rides.

And like all the best conspiracy theories, the secret session was so secret Know-dice knows all about it?

And I'm flattered you think im threatening, my time down the gym has obviously paid off :)

Regards

Sam, 23, and quite nice actualy if you'd just ignore your preconceptions and prejudice's.

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local girl
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Aug 24, 14:40
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It's about time Lower Earley had something for the kids to do! I lived there myself for many years from 1982 both as a teenager and an adult and the promised swimming pools, adventure parks etc never materialised. Surely, this is exactly the sort of thing that one of the largest housing estates in Europe needs to keep the kids occupied?

It was always promised that the land where the Paddick Drive estate is would remain open grassland (we used to play there as kids) but, hey presto, another housing development appears. Effectively, this is just giving something back to the kids and I would rather a 300m BMX track than a big housing estate anyday....

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sam
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Aug 29, 19:09
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lucky lower earley wish we had something like that here in dartford. my son loves his bmx & loves doing jumps on it. he want 2 b a pro bmx rider when his is older. trying 2 find a track round here is a nightmare. hope all the kids that use it love it cos i know my boy would. congrats xx

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Philip Truppin
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Sep 3, 08:57
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I cannot enter into the debate because I am the Earley Town Clerk & therefore an Oficer of the Council and the decisions are taken by councillors. However, I must correct 'know-dice',Lee Gordon-Walker is not a member of Earley Town Council nor has he ever been one.

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Wellington
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Sep 3, 14:54
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Of course local residents don't want the track on their doorstep, would you if you knew that Police and Youth Workers had scored it last from 9 candidate sites because of its potential to attract anti-social behaviour?!

Unfortunately Earley Town Council brushed this under the carpet when they asked the residents of Lower Earley what they thought of the proposal.

The other big concern is the attractiveness of the track to non-locals. We think it's far too big and complete overkill for a play track. We asked on-line and 78 out of 100 BMX enthusiasts would be willing to travel 25+ mile to a track just like this one. A track of this size and quality will attract people from outside Berkshire yet alone the local district (Winnersh, Sindlesham, Woodley, SpencersWood, Shinfield) and there won't be the facilities or infrastructure to deal with them. Look up other playtracks on the web and you'll see none of them are 300m long and 6m (narrowing to 4m) wide.

It's a question of balance, between youth provision and the welfare of the local community, unfortunately Earley Town Council is deaf to our concerns.

Personally, I'd like Cllr Chopping to elaborate on the statement attributed to him: "Despite the bully-boy actions of residents and the threats".

Surely we're allowed to challenge Town Council decisions peacefully, lawfully and democratically? Will Cllr Chopping be forever prejudiced against Wellington Grange's residents because we disagreed with him? If so perhaps he should consider abstaining from any future vote which may affect local residents.

Anthony Vick, Chairman of Wellington Grange Residents' Association.

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Julia
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Sep 4, 21:37
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I'm pleased Earley will have something for the youths to do instead of sitting around smoking surely its better that they do something to keep them fit then hanging around in groups smoking & doing nothing as they often do around laurel park. If people travel to the area why can't the car park by the cinema be utilised -it's not far to walk to the park from there and then the local residences won't be crowded out by unwelcome cars parking in their roads.

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Sam
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Sep 7, 11:02
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this is begining to sound like a sketch form the league of gentelmen! "this is a local track for local people!!!!!!"

If we were getting a full on national track (pretty please?) I may agree with you. But as we're not (there are a few in the SE) can you stop being so mellodramatic? The average BMX rider probably doesn't drive anyway, so your effectively limited to about a 3 mile radius anyway.

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******
Sep 7, 11:05
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Sam
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Sep 7, 11:06
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Incidently, waterloo medows BMX track is aproximately 300m long and 4m wide if anyone wants to go have a look, and is definatley a play track (there's little room to get two bikes side by side, let alone the 8 in a BMX race).

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know-dice
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Sep 7, 11:15
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Philip Truppin is correct :-(

should have said "Conservative Councillor".

Laurel Park...now that's interesting, loads of space even taking in to account fireworks night. 63 car parking spaces, pavilion and toilets. Part of WBC Strategic Plan for Leisure. Strange that no one suggest that before...Young people hanging around, much nearer to Silverdale Bicycle Centre who are the people that are requesting this facility...sounds like an ideal location to me.

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know-dice
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Sep 7, 11:17
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Hmm...Sam: Waterloo Meadow exactly how many parking spaces?.

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******
Sep 7, 11:32
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Wellington
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Sep 8, 21:10
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Couldn't agree more about the "local track for local people" tag line :)

Some thoughts/comments: The cinema is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away. The main road from the cinema to the track was once classified as the most dangerous in Wokingham. Please tell kids not to cycle along it - it's dangerous - there are much safer routes using Lower Earley's public footpaths.

Waterloo Park is closer to 250m long and isn't of the same quality. Isn't it the biggest track in Reading?! I don't think there's another track this size in Berkshire.

Travelling to and from tracks is part of the BMX culture, they use cars all the time. Check out the websites for tracks with clubs and they all have maps for people travelling by car. There's no doubt that kids in to BMXing will love it but was is it the right choice for our community? I don't think so, something like Waterloo Meadow would have been much more appropriate and local kids would have still got a kick out of it.

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******
Sep 8, 21:10
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