Ok so I got in touch with the local 'yoofs' who after they'd stopped laughing at a 33 year old BMXer were quite helpful. I explained the power of a good vocabulary when addressing council members and here's the outcome
The younglings had been pretty organised with what they wanted and had been locked in negotiations with the council for nigh on 2 years!! they had been offered a site to go ahead with but it was in a cruddy area where the locals were likely to steal the bikes as they were being ridden. They did have another site in mind but the council refused to let them have it.
After what I can only assume was 'intense harrassment' on the part of the padawan BMXers the council has caved in and given them their preferred site! Amazing what an incentive it can be to have 50 kids hanging around the mayors house grinding his walls at all hours
Here's the latest info from Max who heads up the Watford Riders crew.
"Easy Rory,
Basically, on the saturday just gone they dumped us 60 tonnes of dirt in rough piles to shape and do what we want with! Now i haven't been down there yet but apparently this dirt is peeerffeecct for trails. Real easy to shape and mould but still has that clayish consistence to it- and whats more, they have an unlimited supply if we need it!
So a few riders have started digging now (all spade and wheelbarrow work - no JCBs or anything) and we hope to create an awesome set of trails! It seems like a fairly small group of riders digging at the minute as there are always many not willing to put hard work in during such early days but im sure once they see a few lines coming along we'll have a thriving scene down there! It will take a hard winters work but we're optimistic
I know it's trails and you're more into racing but it can never be a bad thing right? And once it's up and running a bit maybe we can create a few more flowy racy style lines if enough people are willing to dig for it.
So feel free to come down and be a part of it.
Thanks very much for your help and dont hesitate to contact, we'd be pleased to see you there!"So there you go, ask and you shall receive
If anyone fancies helping out the Watford guys with some manual labour get in touch with me, this will be some RAD riding when it's ready.