New track gets town pumping
Foxton Beach’s new ‘‘pump track‘‘ is set to be one of the largest of its kind in New Zealand, and the town’s youth can’t wait to hit the track with their bikes.
A ‘‘pump track’’ is a circuit full of berms and mounds, or ‘‘rollers’’, that allow riders to gain and keep momentum with minimal pedalling.
When it’s finished, in about eight weeks’ time, the 50-squaremetre facility at Foxton Beach’s Holben Reserve will be the same size as the Grey Lynn pump track in an Auckland park that’s currently the country’s largest.
The track’s construction was expected to cost $340,000 to build, and will be paid for out of $1 million the Horowhenua District Council set aside for the development of Foxton’s reserves.
Foxton Community Board chairman David Roache said youngsters in the town came up with the idea – most board members had not known what a pump track was.
The board had been looking for a project that would benefit local youth, so when the youths came forward with their own idea they ran with it, he said. ‘‘There’s so many young people [in our community] who’ve got nothing to do. This provides something positive for them.’’
Roache said the track would also provide another activity for visitors to the beach.
Jonty Brimelow, 11, his sister Devon and their friend Kohbe Trevethick, 10, were all keen to get out on the track. The trio love biking, and head out every day they can, whether it’s riding to the old BMX track or to a pond to catch fish. ‘‘We’re the luckiest people for getting [the pump track], and I reckon a lot of people will come in for a go,’’ Jonty said.
Devon Brimelow, 10, said the siblings gave the Marine Parade Pump Track in Napier a go on a visit. So, they were looking forward to having something like it they could go to every day, she said.
Horowhenua District Council spokesman Zane Bull said there was a lot of support for the track during public consultation on the Foxton Beach Reserves Investment Plan, and was one of the community’s top priorities.
Bull said the track would be asphalted, so skateboarders and scooter riders can use it, as well as bikers, with directional arrows to help prevent crashes.