Community Update

Council are currently reviewing a range of sites where make-shift bike paths and jumps have been erected. Youth services staff will be engaging with young people onsite. We are hoping that young people will be willing to speak with our youth services team if they have strong sentiments about the jumps and want to advocate for an alternative solution with Council.

The sites will be assessed for safety, and in some cases, objects left in public spaces will need to be removed.

Community context

During 2020 Council and community noticed a rise in makeshift dirt jumps and bike tracks in many parks, which has increased since the lock downs in Melbourne. In response to this Council has explored many options and engaged with the community about opportunities for BMX, Mountain bike tracks (MTB) and other recreational activities for young people in our parks.

Over December 2020, we heard from over 500 children, young people, parents, and the wider community who use our parks. We heard that you would like improved BMX and MTB facilities in Moonee Valley, so we are now working on a few new projects for purpose built bike facilities for our community. You can read our Community Engagement Report here along with a snapshot of the findings.

Council is now working on a number of new projects to provide purpose built bike facilities for bike users in Moonee Valley. The projects we are working on are as follows:

Fanny St Reserve bike track upgrade in Moonee Ponds

We are very excited to now have a final design that is scheduled to be constructed in early-2024, to upgrade the existing bike track. You can find further details about this project here: https://yoursay.mvcc.vic.gov.au/fannystbiketrack

A rotating pop-up pump track

Council installed a pop-up pump track in Montgomery Park, Essendon, in 2022.

The original aim of this pop-up pump track was to have it rotate around parks in the municipality so that everyone in our community would have a chance to enjoy this pump track close to their home. More information can be found here: https://yoursay.mvcc.vic.gov.au/rotating-pop-up-pump-track

Moonee Valley Cycle Facilities Feasibility Study

Council engaged expert track designers ‘Common Ground Trails’ to complete a feasibility study to explore whether a Mountain Bike trail, a pump track, a jumps park or a skills track could successfully be located at one of our 6 shortlisted sites in Moonee Valley:

• Aberfeldie Park northern hillside embankment
• Boeing Reserve / Essendon Fields
• Border Drive Reserve
• Maribyrnong River Regional Park
• Spring Gully Reserve
• Rosehill Easement.

The study examined surfacing, safety, benefits, costs and maintenance of various bike facilities, with regards to site constraints and appropriateness of various bike facilities. Each site was assessed against detailed criteria to determine a ranking and recommendations were made for further action as detailed below, which Council will continue to progress:

• Aberfeldie Park: Aberfeldie Park was ranked the highest for a new mountain bike trail. Once a concept design is prepared, Council will undertake community consultation on this.
• Border Drive Reserve: The feasibility report nominates Border Drive Reserve as a suitable site for a possible junior skills bike facility, pending impacts of the Airport Rail link. The recommendations of the feasibility study can be considered in the preparation of the draft masterplan for the park.
• Sites requiring working with partners: The Maribyrnong River Regional Park provides an opportunity for a regional scale bike facility, however there are a number of significant constraints including further analysis of biodiversity and cultural heritage complications, significant funding requirements, and approval to develop on Parks Victoria land.
• Non feasible sites: Spring Gully Reserve and Rosehill Easement were not considered suitable for a bike facility development.

Ongoing management of bike jumps and tracks in parks and reserves

Council will continue to monitor unplanned jumps/tracks. We will need to remove any high-risk jumps and those which impact cultural and ecological sites or where they affect other park users.

Stay tuned for further consultations. You can email or call Council’s City Design team for further information on parkimprovements@mvcc.vic.gov.au or 9243 8888.