The town of York will become the new benchmark for off-road vehicle areas in Western Australia after a $40,000 funding boost by the State Government towards the York Motocross Track was announced this week.
WA has six recognised Motocross complexes and the much-needed financial boost to York, 100km east of Perth, will improve the track itself, along with earthworks, vegetation buffer, toilets and signage.
The Shire of York President Denese Smyth says the venue is widely used by locals and has come a long way since beginning as just ‘a piece of land’.
“So many people are using the track, with little kids up to adults, it’s a very well-used facility,” Ms Smyth said.
Ms Smyth says that the track upgrades will continue to bring in people from in and around York.
“By having improvements like this, it will help support [the complex] even further,” Ms Smyth said.
The York Motocross complex is the closest to Perth alongside Collie, with the track luring riders all year round.
“Often when you see cars leaving York to Perth, you’ll see a trailer with bikes on the back and you know what they have come for,” Ms Smyth said.
A spokesperson from the Recreational Trail-bike Riders’ Association committee Don Martin says the funding boost news is “amazing” and he firsthand is aware of how many people it brings to the town and how important it is for the youth population in the town of York.
“Some of the regional towns do not always have the same level of activities for the youth so by giving riders somewhere to go, there are decreased maintenance requirements in sensitive areas,” Mr Martin said.
Ms Smyth says the track redevelopment will help educate track users about the impacts of bikes on the local environmental.
“It’s extremely important as not far from the track we’ve got orchid seeds growing and we’ve got rare plants from the environment that were trying to preserve,” she said.