Yass Valley Council has indicated support to continue planning for a new pump track. Photo: 1footage/Envato.
A regional council is pushing ahead with plans to build a new bike track, before a final decision on its location early next year.
The project began with Yass Valley Council (YVC) working towards the creation of a joint BMX and pump track installation.
The council voted in December 2024 to establish a focus group to work on the project, which brought together community members (including a young person) and several councillors to begin planning.
Following two meetings, its members asked the council to shift the project’s focus towards creating a dedicated pump track for the town, including dropping the reference to ”BMX” from the group’s name.
During a recent meeting, councillors accepted the proposal to refocus on creating a pump track within Murrumbateman.
A pump track is a purpose-built bike track that relies on riders’ momentum to push them through the course without pedalling, while a BMX track is designed specifically for BMX racing.
Yass Valley Mayor Jasmin Jones said organising funding for the track would be part of that planning process and thanked residents for their patience.
“While we don’t have a budget yet, I believe that if the community wants this, they will help achieve this result … but we hear the community,” she said.
“I know it’s frustrating when you’ve got to hitch your wagon to a local government engine, but we will get there together.”
According to a project plan received by YVC at a recent meeting, the pump track will take up about 1500 square metres, with the focus group presented with three locations that could suit a facility of that size.
Part of Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds, Murrumbateman Common and ”Hawthorn” (a council-owned property) were identified as potential sites.
The focus group has recommended that the council ultimately decide to build the track over the southern sand area at the Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds.
The project plan says that while the latter two sites are large enough for the track, they have no amenities or associated infrastructure (such as public toilets and off-street parking), present biodiversity concerns or are located away from Murrumbateman’s main area.
A sketch of what the pump track could look like was presented to the focus group. Image: Yass Valley Council screenshot.
Councillors also heard during the meeting that the attached project plan was an outline of how planning and community consultation would progress.
“It details exactly how we’re going to move forward, and there will be changes as consultation continues,” a staff member said.
A timeline included in the plan indicates that a report to the council on the preferred location for the new pump track will be ready by March 2026.
During the meeting, Cr Kristin Butler said the timeline included the holiday period at the end of 2025.
“We [the council] almost shut down for two months of those, between the end of December and the end of February,” she said.
“There won’t be much happening [during that period].”
She also pushed back against the perception that this was a new proposal, pointing to children writing a petition in 2013 and funding allocated in the council’s 2017-18 budget for the project.
“That already demonstrates a huge amount of community need,” Cr Butler said.
According to the project plan, YVC is also expected to carry out further community consultation, such as by creating a dedicated page on its website.
