Plans for £150k pump track approved by councillors

The project will be the second pump cycling track in Worcester

Plans to build a new £150,000 pump cycling track in Worcester have been approved by councillors.

Worcester City Council said the track, at Perdiswell Park, would be a "destination" facility for the city and would feature two separate tracks, one for experienced riders and another for children under eight.

The popularity of the first track, in Battenhall Park, had prompted the authority to draw up the plans for a second, larger site.

Members of Worcester City Council's place and economic development committee approved plans for the scheme on Monday.

Pump tracks, which feature small bumps and jumps, are made up of hills and banked turns and are designed to be ridden by cyclists who generate momentum by using up and down movements, instead of pedaling or pushing.

Councillors were told that £20,000 of community funding from housing developers would be used to help fund the Perdiswell project.

Jabba Riaz, the authority's deputy leader, said the council was "doing a lot" to address a historical lack of investment in play facilities across Worcester.

Councillor Elena Round added lessons also needed to be learnt from the first pump track, which opened in Battenhall in November, and that the Perdiswell track should have been built first.

She said due to the smaller facility being "massively oversubscribed," the community in the St Peter's area of the city had been exposed to "no end of issues" including anti-social behaviour, litter and drugs.

"A larger pump track in a central location, co-located with other leisure facilities and car parking would have had relatively minor issues compared to what we're facing in St Peter's," she explained.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.