Levelling boys' bike park 'sad testament to public administration'

A bike track a group of boys spent months building on unused Christchurch red zone land has been levelled after being deemed a hazard.
The group of up to eight youths spent their mornings and afternoons over three months constructing jumps and berms on a 100 metre stretch of land on Richmond Hill in Sumner. They had been shovelling dirt from the side of the property and borrowing wheelbarrows from local builders.

However, they were upset to learn their hard work had been wasted when contractors flattened soil early last week.
Track builder Axel Ellis, 12, said he was "pretty annoyed" because it had taken at least 50 wheelbarrow loads of dirt to construct.Niko Docking, 12, said the park was "really fun" and the community had been "super happy" to see his group of friends using the land.

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"Some people who normally would go home [after school] and not really hang out were coming out, and that was quite cool," he said.
The section had been written off for housing after the 2011 earthquake and sold to the Government. It is now managed by government agency Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
LINZ Christchurch land and property manager Matt Bradley said the jumps were hindering maintenance of the property, which included mowing the lawn and spraying weeds.

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"I just feel that you've got some kids who are keeping themselves well out of trouble, they're doing what boys have done ever since boys were invented."
Axel's dad Erik Ellis, a landscaping consultant, said his son had an issue with gaming last year and sold his Xbox at Christmas to buy a mountain bike.

The empty section was the "ultimate small play area", he said.
Simon Taylor said the outdoor activity was "parenting gold" and it was nice to have his son, Charlie, come home from school and not want to use electronic devices.
Bradley said LINZ had a process to apply for access and usage of its property.
There were hazards on the site, including cliff collapse and land movement during an earthquake. There were no hazard warnings on site, but Bradley said there had been in the past.

"We will make sure that's addressed," he said.

There were also "the usual slips, trips and falls" hazards at the property and it was not designed to be a public access site.
Erik Ellis said people in the community regularly walked their dogs on the land.
Axel said it was unlikely the boys would try rebuilding the bike park.

"If we rebuilt again and then the same thing happened, it would probably put me off it."

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