Council to pursue the perfect pump track site

Published on 28 July 2022

The City of Launceston is on the hunt for the best location in the city for a new bicycle pump track.

At today's ordinary meeting, Councillors voted unanimously to support an amended motion by Councillor Nick Daking, which followed an original notice of motion brought to Council by Deputy Mayor Danny Gibson in May this year.

The recommendation supported by Councillors included a commitment to the future enhancement of trails and the development of a pump track in the Kate Reed Nature Recreation Area near Prospect.

Officers will now progress their investigations for construction options at a preferred location and report back prior to the 2023/24 budget deliberations.

Pump tracks are surfaces of constantly changing elevation where bike riders area able to generate speed by pumping or lifting their bikes and then applying pressure rather than pedalling as they move over the undulating features called rollers, berns and jumps.

Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said choosing a suitable location would be critical to the track's future success.

"It's important that we can identify and choose a central location that has access to existing amenities such as toilets, car parks, and potentially other facilities such as cafes that will in turn increase its appeal to potential users," Mayor van Zetten.

Mayor van Zetten said a suitable, medium-sized track could cost between $150,000 and $300,000, with larger, more impressive facilities found on the mainland costing between $760,000 and $2.3 million.

The only existing pump track within the Launceston municipality is at Hollybank, which is unsealed and was developed at the same time as the larger trail network in 2013.

"Unfortunately, this track is more than 20 kilometres from the CBD and is quite small and pretty basic in design," Mayor van Zetten said.

Officers initially identified five potential locations for a pump track after canvassing all park and reserve areas within the municipality - Royal Park, Heritage Forest, Kate Reed Nature Recreation Area as well as the West Launceston Community Park.

Councillor Daking's amendment called on officers to investigate a sixth potential location somewhere on the Inveresk Precinct site.