As a resident of Brixham all my life, I have always thought there was a lack of recreational spaces where children and adults can safely learn and develop cycling / scooter skills.

This issue is not only personal to me but also affects many families in our community who are seeking safe, innovative play areas for their children and themselves.

Brixham is currently lacking an area that caters specifically to this need. A pump track - a track designed for wheeled sports equipment. This would be an excellent addition to our town, providing a space where both children and adults can engage in physical activity while learning new skills.

Brixham needs to meet the infrastructure demand of one of the fastest growing outdoor sports in the country and take some pressure off of the well-used local skate park. 

Brixham needs a designated area to provide a save place to learn and develop skills to promote riding safety on the local roads. Children outgrow playgrounds but bike, scooter, skate parks / pump tracks are a lifelong source of recreation!

You just need to look around the town to see groups of children and adults enjoying various riding activities.
 
A lot of the local children have resorted in making home made ramps out of dirt, pallets and anything they can find to enjoy themselves, often being moved away, reported or ramps being destroyed after all the hard work. 

Our goal is to develop a plan in conjunction with the council and Forte Trailscapes Track Design & Building to design and build a pump track / skills area.

To convince the council to add our plan to be discussed with the community and environment committee to help secure a location, input a design and build, as well as help with securing available funding from multiple sources that include British Cycling with their ‘Places to Ride programme’ and the National Lottery (Sport England). Some portions of costs can also be offset by grants, in-kind donations, and fundraising.

We hope that by adding this for discussion we can demonstrate that the community and the town would consider investing in this project providing the best possible outcomes in terms of usership, sustainability, community support, and proximity to schools/town.

Every year interest in these sports grows and grows. A report in 2015 estimated that cycling and mountain biking alone contributed about 520 million to British tourism every year! 

Brixham needs to get in on this boom and provide a 'pump track' for the people. Besides being an innovative play park amenity a pump track is a great addition to any town.

So much so the surrounding areas such as Paignton, Newton Abbot and Chudleigh have provided one for their local community, I always wonder why Brixham seems to be last on the list to see improvement?

Torbay council have many green spaces for public use, looking at the previous proposals for the very used Brixham Skate Park the most appropriate location for this Pump Track would be Northcliff - between the Stoney Park Allotments:

This site was previously considered to be a good location for the skate park as it was mostly adjacent to the allotments and would only affect one or two houses. The land would be a great location to put in a pump track! 

Other suitable locations include:

Brixham Town square:

Furzeham Green:

St Mary's Park:

Astley Park:

Sharkham / St Mary's:

I am in contact with the Community & Environment Committee in Brixham council to put the idea forward and discuss these locations. I really believe this petition would help.

We have a vision of a community gathering place in which beginner to advanced riders can have a safe, progressive, and sustainable space to ride. Returns on investing in our youth through offering these facilities will be tenfold; building the next generation of stewards and riders by opening these sports to those who may not have access otherwise.

Please sign this petition if you support creating a recreational area / pump track  in Brixham :)