The pump track situated on Mitre Field in the heart of the village is now complete and ready to use! The track was completed just in time for the half term where it attracted many users from across the Parish, who enjoyed the good weather and the new facility.
The track has received praise from all users who have had a chance to ride, roll or pedal around the track. A pleasant side effect is it has brought life to the play area too and it is great to see the Mitre field being used as intended for the play and enjoyment of the children of our Parish.
It has been great to see children as young as 2 learning to ride the track and gaining their confidence, to teens with experience honing their skills and developing new ones. It is amazing to watch the quick progression, I chatted to a parent as their youngest child went from nervously walking with their bike, to bombing around the track with glee within a couple of hours, then eagerly challenging their much older sister to a race, or more precisely endless races with boundless energy. Some of the older children including Officer Bob have also been seen enjoying the track. The track has met its design ambitions of being open to all people and all things on wheels, a local teacher was spotted testing his skateboarding skills while their children rode the track on their bikes. The bravery of the very young on scooters and balance bikes is something to behold. The track is primarily intended for the young to enjoy, however if you are an older big kid and have a wheeled object you can ride or roll on do dust them off and give the track a lap or two, it is surprisingly good exercise and good fun.
The planning process is now complete so we will be planning a formal launch event in the new year to celebrate and officially open the new facility. Keep an eye on the village news, Facebook and the Repton Parish Council Website for more info.
The Parish council would like to thank all the supporters of this project, we have received over 70 pledges of support from individuals, families and organisations which has helped fund the project. Thanks to those that responded to surveys that gave us the support to progress a daft idea to reality and thank you to all the users of the Mitre field for sharing this resource with a wider community of users.
To mark the completion, we intend to pop up a nice plaque next to the track for posterity, listing all the supporters of the project, from the smallest to the largest donation, all are equally key to the success of this project. It will represent how the community helped bring the track into being and I hope a nice sign of gratitude from the Repton Parish Council. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the facility. I would also like to thank the members of the Repton Parish Council that are the trustees of the Mitre Field for their help and efforts over the last 4 years of this project.
See you on Track.
Stu on behalf of the whole of the Repton Parish Council.
