Killjoy council BANS homemade bike jumps and threatens to destroy them - as furious parents say authorities are listening to a vocal minority and stopping kids from playing outdoors
Furious parents have slammed a local council for threatening to destroy homemade bike jumps and stopping kids from playing outdoors.
Sutherland Shire Council, in south Sydney, distributed letterbox pamphlets last week warning residents bike jumps made at local reserves and parks would be flattened.
The council said the jumps were 'damaging our natural environment', 'impacting on the amenity of parks' and 'creating hazards that pose a risk to public safety'.
Furious parents have slammed the Sutherland Shire Council, in south Sydney, for banning their children's homemade bike jumps (pictured above) and threatening to destroy them
The council issued a letterbox pamphlet (pictured above) warning local residents the unauthorised bike jumps built on council reserves would be filled in and removed
A statement from Sutherland Shire Council said the 'unauthorised construction of bike jumps by members of the community' was 'strongly discouraged'.
'Unauthorised bike track construction has increased significantly during 2020, resulting in more complaints from the community about the impact of this activity on our shared environment and potential risks to public safety,' the statement said.
The council explained the jumps could damage 'areas with endangered ecological communities, threatened species or Aboriginal heritage value.'
'Council actively monitors bike tracks and removes them if construction and use becomes excessive, unreasonable or causes unacceptable impact on the environment or risk to public safety,' the statement said.
But local parents said the council had only listened to a vocal minority rather than the families living in the area.
One mother, Karen Ward, started an online petition asking the council to leave the jumps and listed their benefits for the community.
'Kids are constantly criticised for always being on screens, not doing anything and being lazy. These kids are not.
Parents said the council had only been listening to a vocal minority and the bike jumps encouraged children to communicate and play outdoors (file image bike rider pictured)
'We need to encourage kids to be outside, use their brains, teamwork and to get physical,' she explained.
'Sutherland Shire Council, rather than spending thousands of rate payer dollars on assessing these jumps around the shire, then creating flyers to warn neighbours...
'Followed by contractors undoing all the kids work- why don’t you engage with the youth and support their activities on the mainly unused council land,' she said.
Other parents agreed the bike jumps supported 'learning about building using physics' as well as 'working together and communicating'.
The petition has so far achieved over half of its intended 1,000 signatures.
Sutherland Council's planned rehabilitation works will see jumps removed, holes filled in, and fencing and logs used to block access to the tracks.
Riders have been encouraged to instead use community bike tracks and trails built by the council.
Local families have established a petition calling for the council to leave the bike jumps as they are and allow children to continue to build and work together (file image bike pictured)