Yass Valley Council’s survey on the proposed locations for the Murrumbateman Pump Track is closing shortly on July 5.
At their 19 December 2024, meeting, Council resolved to establish a Murrumbateman Pump Track Focus Group with the intention of the group providing advice to Council on the location and development. The group would be involved from the establishment phase until completion of a concept design.
The group has assisted in drafting recommendations and actions for the implementation of the project and have advocated for the project locally.
Council staff have advised the only available locations within Murrumbateman that will accommodate the proposed size of the pump track are the Murrumbateman Recreation Ground, Murrumbateman Common and Council-owned land named “Hawthorn.”
The survey aims to collect data on which of these three is most preferred by the community.
Stakeholder consultation has already taken place, and the survey is the next step. A report to Council will be provided on the survey results next month.
The outcomes of the ‘Have Your Say’ consultation (which the survey is a part of), together with a review of previous engagement activities and community submissions, will assist Council officers in forming a comprehensive understanding of community sentiment and perspectives regarding the project. This analysis will inform the formulation of a recommendation to be presented to Council. This does not necessarily mean that the location with the most votes becomes the choice Council follow.
The focus group held two meetings, 30 April 2025 and 29 May the same year. At their meeting on 29 May, the focus group was presented with three possible locations that could potentially fit a pump track of approximately 1500m2 in size.
Although the sites of “Hawthorn” and Murrumbateman Common are of adequate size to accommodate a Murrumbateman Pump Track “competitive level” pump track, these locations posed the following issues/risks:
• Outside of main village area,
• No infrastructure in the vicinity, such as water and sewer services,
• No amenities such as public toilets, off-street parking,
• Biodiversity assessment would need to be undertaken – high risk of biodiversity concerns,
• Limited natural surveillance.
Therefore, it was unanimously voted by members to endorse the location for the construction of a pump track over the southern sand arena within Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds.
Despite this, Council are still taking community input to weigh all possible options and viewpoints.
Jack Murray
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