By BEN CAMERON
A TIMELINE for a possible BMX track in Cockatoo will not be known until Cardinia Shire Council’s Skate and BMX Strategy is released in the middle of this year.
The Gazette revealed in February last year an online petition and a Facebook page was launched by a group of local parents, calling for a track in the town next to an off-leash area at Alma Treloar Reserve.
In an 18 February letter to Cockatoo resident Adrian Dowell, who had asked council for an update on the park, council manager Governance Doug Evans said it expected to appoint consultants for its Skate and BMX Strategy that week.
“The project is intended to be completed by mid-year and has been funded jointly through the Victorian Government and council,” he said.
“(It) has not yet been the subject of broader planning and community processes and has not yet been identified in any supporting strategic documents.
“It is expected that implementation of any strategy actions will occur over several years in accordance with a priority action plan.
“Given that the strategy will not be completed until mid-year, this project will not be able to be submitted for any form of grant funding in 2015.”
Council said land “earmarked” by the community at the southern end of Alma Treloar Reserve was split between two titles, owned by both council and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries.
He said it would take “complex negotiations” to transfer the land to council.
“Officers have investigated the proposed location of the track, mostly on DEPI land, on behalf of the community and DEPI has responded with a range of conditions, some of which are significant, that would need to be met prior to considering approval for a BMX track,” he said.
“The area is also used as a dog park.
“Any negotiations with DEPI would need to wait till the outcome of the Skate and BMX Strategy.”
