BMX bikers back on track

BMX and skateboard enthusiasts are today back on track after rallying help from the community.

Stowmarket youngsters Dan Mallett, Dan Horne, Nathan Beales and Luke Macdonald have had their wheels put out of action since dirt ramps they regularly used at Edgecomb Road were flattened out, revealed in The Evening Star in December.

The boys and their friends submitted a petition to Stowmarket Town Council in a plea for help and councillors have now agreed to help them build a new base.

It is hoped the council can provide earth to build tracks.

Patsy Stammers, a volunteer from the Lavenham Park Community Association (LPCA) which is helping the youngsters, said: "There was unanimous support from the council to help us.

"The boys themselves are going to learn how to build the ramps and tracks and making a shopping list of what they need.

"As well as logs and earth I think the thing they need most is manpower, but they have assured me they are prepared to do it.

"The main thing is the council have agreed to back us.

"We don't expect that now we have asked for things, they will fall in our lap.

"The boys realise the right way to do this is to help themselves, and work in partnership with the community.

"I think if the boys build the facility themselves, they are more likely to look after it."

The Edgecomb Road site had been adopted as an unofficial base for the youngsters.

But complaints about noise and fly-tipping led to the private landowner flattening their ramps and fencing off the site.

The owner of land next to Combs Wood has agreed in principal to letting the youngsters ride there. It is owned by the LPCA.

The LPCA has also approached the leisure department at Mid Suffolk district council and will be speaking to residents whose homes border the site.

Where do you think the youngsters should ride? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN.