Shane Stanley said:In article <[email hidden]>,
Bleve said:I've been to the Wonth HPV race (we raced it in '05), it's a good
thing. There was a lot of school teams there, mainly it seems, from
around Berwick etc, which is close to Casey.
Berwick is *in* Casey; it's basically the old cities of Cranbourne and
Berwick combined.
heh, that explains it 🙂
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I think you're misunderstanding what I wrote about the course. I am
specifically *not* saying it's a bad thing, I am specifically saying it
*is* a good thing in general. My observations are not any attempt to
be negative about the course or the intentions of those that built,
designed and paid for it. It comes across to me that you think I'm
whinging about it. Far from it.
I'm just trying to point out that (a) it wasn't just built for adult
bike races, and (b) while it might not be convenient for some, it might
provide encouragement to others who hitherto haven't had somewhere
convenient. For some, encouraging newcomers, especially in an area not
noted for cycling, rates higher than making the trip shorter for the
Beach Road crowd.
I don't disagree. The beach rd mob have the st kilda (port melb) crits
anyway, and they don't race in winter, can't get the colnago dirty now.
But it *was* significantly funded for bike races (adult or otherwise,
makes no difference). My understanding of the budget for it is as
follows (this is hearsay, I don't have the real numbers, it's just what
I've been told in discussion with Mal and Nicko etc) :
$500,000 from the state gov (funds promised to replace the track at VFL
park which got turned into a mcmansion estate) - this funding may have
been aquired by some misleading claims by the eastern combine clubs.
I don't know the details.
The remainder from Casey council
Total cost of track $1.1 mil. Sounds like a lot? That's 2 mid-range
houses these days - ie: peanuts. The council had to chip in $600,000
if the 1.1 mil figure isn't including the value of the land, which is
unclear 🙂
I'm all in favour of encouraging the locals (who paid for a fair whack
of it!) to ride and race and be exposed to sports other than fools
rules and bastardball.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:What I am saying is that at the moment (and it'll be great if this
changes) the vast majority of riders that attend crits in the eastern
combine are from the city and they are less likely to make the trip
simply because it is so far from the city.
I don't doubt you. But it might also encourage locals to take up the
sport. Or at least give them a chance without having to travel these
dreadful distances.
Sure. Once more for good luck; I think the course is good and I think
it's a good thing.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:My concern is that Casey have built this track,
and the eastern combine clubs may have been a little ... liberal ..
with their claims for the justification of the track
Right.
Quoted message said:The state government chipped in $500,000 (I think?) specifically to
replace the facility at VFL park. Casey also contributed a lot, but
your land value claim is disingenious, the course is wrapped around the
edge of a huge mixed sporting complex, the land would have been
parkland or yet another carpark otherwise.
The land value claim is valid in that there are competing interests for
parkland in Casey as elsewhere. To declare parkland as having no value
is, well, sad. No council closer to the city came up with an offer of
suitable land, I gather.
I'm not saying that parkland is of no value(!). But that the land as
allocated was essentially "spare". At least, that's my understanding.
Casey could offer the land on what is essentially a speculator (build
it, and they might come) simply because it was spare land. I've been
there, seen the place. It's no rainforest, it's windswept low grade
farmland on the outskirts of an outer suburb, the local farms have a
roaring trade in "brown". Next time you buy a brown thing, see if you
can find on the label somewhere "brown, traces of which are proudly
grown in Cranbourne and Melton". It's been raining for a month, and
the place is still brown!
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I hope that the ratepayers of Casey get their moneys' worth out of it
in some form. I'm sure the local HPV people will have a ball on it,
it's a great circuit for HPV racing, that's for sure. The big question
for them (Casey) is what are the kids and local adults interested in
riding?
No -- the big question for them is whether locals use the facility
they've paid for.
They paid (half - 2/3rds) for a bike racing track. If the locals
aren't interested in riding, then they won't use it. I'm sure the
local hoons will find a way to get onto it with motorbikes and cars and
will trash it as soon as they discover it 🙁 That's -perhaps- not what
the council has in mind though.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:We (Blackburn CC) tried for some time to get a decent crit running at
METEC (driver training roads in Kilsyth, closed road, interesting
track, about the same width as Casey but a bit shorter) but even that
is too far from the city for the bulk of the riders who race, and it's
closer than Casey.
Maybe you should ask your local council for some of that free land ;-)
There's very little in the way of spare land in the city, and we're
gradually losing our crit courses and road racing courses. It's a
problem ... and I hope the Casey Fields course, as part of a solution,
gets used significantly. We did get a kinda weird MTB crit course dug
into a park in Blackburn last year, but AFAIK it's a dead duck at the
moment. I don't really know why it was built. I've never seen anyone
use it except at the grand (!) opening.
We still have Sandown and Glenvale, but for how long? Glenvale maybe
another couple of years before it gets rezoned or something, or more of
the factories start opening on sunday mornings etc. We may also get the
Siemens carpark soon.
