 So it's back in around June, that's when they released the master plan, the draft master plan that has one line on the plan that says demolish Velodrome to expand their existing oval. Yeah okay right and why are you so passionate about being involved in helping to save the Velodrome? Because I've been so passionate in cycling and I've never ridden a bike before and four years ago that's when I started riding a bike. On the Velodrome here? And the Velodrome and just ride recreationally along Beach Road and all that. But Springvale is not very close to Beach Road, it takes about half an hour to get to. So instead of doing that I can come to Velodrome and it's the perfect way to get fit. Yeah practice, safe environment. It's also good for my mental health as well because I've had some issues with mental health problems and fitness problems. So when I started riding, first I started riding it, I couldn't even get out of my street, 200 meters out of my street, I couldn't get out. And then right to this day I've seen myself just grow as a person because I'm able to stay fit now, mentally stronger. Yeah wow, so it means a lot to you. You know that's the most I've ever seen you ride a bike, why did you like riding around here so much? Because I'm on a path. Yeah? And what does that mean? It's like I'm going to do for my not straight. Yeah okay. And there's no bushes, they've got a fence around it. Yeah nice. It's another scooter incident. All right so this morning we've got the bikes loaded in the car and I'm taking both my girls down to a local velodrome. You see Ruby this one here, she's a bit of a loose cannon, she's also, she's five, she's still learning to ride. She can ride if we get her going without training wheels, she can go but Holly, where does Ruby need to improve her bike riding skills? She needs to go into the bush up there two times, the same bush. It started on a bike. Whoa, Ruth, are you all right? What is going on here? And she actually needs to improve her braking. That's really well timed there, Ruby. So when she does go into the bush, well she's heading towards the bush, she could actually pause. So this morning we're going to this great environment, a velodrome. So my girls, well particularly Ruby, can improve their bike riding skills but there's also a bit of a story going out of this velodrome which I want to share with you all today. One, two, three, she's a mummy. Can you take your bike? Roll it around and I'll get your helmet. No, no, not yet, wait till we get your helmet on, okay? As soon as we get to the velodrome, of course, where do we need to go first girls? Enjoy. All right, so can we go look at the velodrome now? Yeah. Yeah, do you want to see what it looks like? You've never seen one before, come on. No, no, come on. What do you reckon? Good place to learn how to ride your bike better? What do you think about it? Yeah, exactly like a doughnut like I said. Yeah, a giant doughnut. A giant doughnut. Do you want to get our bikes out and go for a ride? No, we'll do bikes first then scooter, okay? All right, so I'm just here with Kim Newman and Kim is a consistent user of this velodrome and he gets to meet a whole bunch of people that come down and use the velodrome, members of the community. So Kim, who sort of uses this velodrome right here? Yeah, so this velodrome is used by a diverse range of people from different abilities, different backgrounds. Because as you know, the city of Greater Danano is one of the most multicultural cities in Victoria and perhaps Australia. So we've got people from Sudanese background, from Burmese immigrants, whole range of people. Even to little kids like her? And we've had people come up to us, little teenagers come up to us say, when they're bored, they're right at the velodrome. Yeah, right. And this is a noble park. A noble park is not known for it's been in the news for not good reasons. And here's a perfect opportunity to bond the community together through like a recreational activity that kids can do. So when they're bored, they don't turn to other behaviors and there's an outlet for them. So and in order to boost that, what's the what could they do here to get to get more people down here using the velodrome? So yeah, we want to restart the noble park cycling club. So the noble park cycling club has existed since 1946. And it's only in the recent 10 years that the club has folded. Yeah. So there's a real opportunity down here to get more of the community involved. So you're saying, Kim, you're you're doing a fundraising campaign. Is that right? Yeah, we're doing a fundraising campaign to reform the old noble park down at our cycling club that has existed here since 1962. And so if anyone has money to spare to donate to our cause to help restart the club and also save the velodrome, and we're looking to raise $2,000 to register the club and also help build the club. All right. So what have we got here? So these are the master plans for Parkfield Reserve that the city of Greater Dandenong have engaged a consultant to draw up. One of them. So this is the existing one? This is the existing one with the velodrome in and what the upgrades would look like. So it would mean there would be also they're considering upgrades for the other three rate paying. Yes, they're considering upgrades. The argument for council is the amount of money that it would take to upgrade this velodrome and whether it would be warranted for the local community. This one here has just come to light of one of them. No, this one's just come to light. Sorry. This was the original one where they want to take the velodrome out and instead put a shared walking path, which is the buzzword right now for a 2.5 meter path that would be shared with walking and cycling. Right. And increasing the soccer fields. Unfortunately in this area, because we're like most council areas, we're getting over development. They're now finding that we haven't got the open space for future generations. They're trying to fool proof by, you know, making up these master plans. Right now we've got to me, this is David and Goliath. We've got three rate paying organizations on this site that are claiming they need extra space. We've now got cyclists that are going, if we lose sand and race course, because that looks like it's going to be developed. And this has taken away where do people cycle? Because as you would know, there is a huge difference between recreational cycling and training and speed cycling. You can't have speed and training on a shared path. Because then who is liable, you know, this is the thing. So in this area from Kelvin side road up to the highway, Heatherton road, this is about one of the largest open spaces that council have. And every house that is sold is usually snapped up by a developer. And then we end up with units and apartments. So, but for me, the historical, this is an historical icon for our area. Why is it historical? Murray Kirby was made an MBE and he set up the pedal club, which was known Victoria wide. We don't give credit for our history. And the thing is, if we don't preserve our history, we really can't move forward. You know, people are enjoying cycling possibly because of the pedal club. All those years ago, you know, it got a bit of emphasis back then. He used to appear on the happy Hammond show. And he probably just did it. He actually had a bike business in the local area in Noble Park in Leonard Avenue. And from that bike business, the pedal club grew because he would help people repair bikes and get bikes up and running. But right now, like this is a Sunday morning, right now, back in the day, there were 22 and 11, I don't know whether it was miles or kilometers, cycling that happened. And they all ended up here. Murray would pack up the children and their bikes in furniture vans and they'd end up here. People weren't drawing straws and saying which sport is more popular. You know, tennis, soccer, cricket, cycling. They coexisted for all these years. I don't know what the difference is right now. Yeah, right. So this plane here still involves a cycle track, yeah? But it's obviously not a velodrome. It's a shed. We have to, that's the difference. This is going to be more like what you experience along Eastlink and what you experience. Like this kind of width versus... Well, is this 2.5 meters? Okay, but... 2.5 versus what's a velodrome? What do you think it is? Eight. Eight meters. Yeah, right. So you can come in, Kim, that's okay. So they're saying 2.5 will allow a bike going in opposite direction to one another and make all two riding side by side. Yeah, okay. So, you know, but in the whole of the city of Greater Dandenong, originally we were under the city of Springvale, about 25 years ago we became the city of Greater Dandenong. We only have 70 historical icons or markers left. What do you think Maury would want to happen to this velodrome right now, given the fact that it's a bit of a sliding door scenario? It is a sliding door. And actually that question was posed to me by the Councillor that's driving this master plan. I think that he would want cycling still to be encouraged. It's a clean, passive sport. You know, you only need a bike to participate or in the case of your girls, you know, even a scooter. And our roads are not safe anymore. Could you imagine trying to do a cycle race for 22 or 11 miles or kilometers today with all the traffic that there is? Yet they were able to do it so much easier back then. Unfortunately, the logistics of it too, you've got to be able to lease this and pay rates to the council and you need public liability. Back then, you know, people were so carefree. But I believe that Maury would want his dream continued and I believe that the way that we can honour him is to revitalise this parcel of land and keep his memory going. All right, so we've just gotten home. Both the girls have run inside completely knackered. Ruby in particular, because that is by far the furthest I've ever seen her ride, which says to me that the velodrome is almost the perfect environment to teach young kids how to ride a bike. But before I unpack the car, just to summarise this video, a wise man once said to me, the activity of bike riding is a simple solution to some of the world's most complex problems. In a city congestion, here in Melbourne, we've got a booming population of over 5 million people. Mental health and of course physical health. I could understand the council wanting to create more sporting fields out that way if they were limited. If there were very few options for the local community, but by all accounts, there's plenty. Whereas an environment for people to ride in a safe environment, learn the activity of bike riding, there are very limited options out that way. So that says to me that the council should make the right decision here. Not only by maintaining the velodrome out of Noble Park, but by improving the environment and promoting it, getting more people out there riding in a safe environment, learning the activity of bike riding. And that will be better for you and for me. I'll catch you in the next video.