A FAMILY is pleased to hear a cycle track that was in danger of being scrapped will be restored.

Last year Wychavon District Council had to take the difficult decision to close the Charity Brook BMX track in Evesham after they discovered that the track had started to rot making it unsafe for use.

Wychavon opened a consultation to get a better idea of the usage, understand user feelings about the facility and find out what they would like to replace it.

328 residents took part in a consultation and overwhelmingly (92% of those who took part) wanted the old track to be replaced with a new one. The survey also showed that the track is in regular use with 63% of respondents visiting the track every day or every week.

Jon Hulbert, Senior Parks and Greenspace Officer at Wychavon said “We’ve listened to the views of residents and will now start to look at the options for restoring and improving the track. We will start working on suitable designs that will include some new features to freshen up the format.”

Once the designs are finalised they will be put on Wychavon’s website for residents to take a look at before work starts in summer 2019.

Jason Ayres who lives near Charity Brook Park BMX track in Evesham, uses it regularly with his sons Ollie, 11 and Jamie, 8. Last year he was encouraging people to take part in the consultation to save the track after Jamie discovered a sign telling people that the track had been closed. Mr Ayres said: “I don’t think it would have happened if we hadn’t of put a campaign behind it. I think that the council perhaps didn’t expect this, I think maybe they were hoping to get rid of it but obviously backed out because of the response from the people. It is good that they have reacted positively to the overwhelming response from the parents that live around it."

Jamie who cares a lot about environmental issues mentioned the need for facilities due to the growing number of houses being built: “It is literally the only cycle track that is really close to us. It is just down the road.” He added: “If it was scrapped it would be very bad for the environment.”

"It is a good decision. I don't even know why they needed to scrap it anyway, there was nothing really wrong with it."

Mr Ayres added: "There needs to be more facilities for families in Evesham."