Eight-year-old Cabra resident calls on council to provide a pump track in his local park

Oran Wood is calling on Dublin City Council to build a pump track – a specially designed, curvy circuit with lots of small hills that can be traversed on a bike, skateboard, skates, or a scooter.

“I got the idea when I went to my cousin's park in England, and they had a pump track in their park,” says Oran. It was a lot of fun, he says, and it was easy to go fast.

“I like going on the bike, I just really liked it,” he said, by phone on Wednesday. “You don’t really pedal, you make a pumping movement with the front of your bike.”

His mother, Deirdre O’Connor, says they visited two sets of relatives in the UK, and both had pump tracks in their local parks. 

“Oran was very taken with it, and when we came back, he was like, ‘Where is the pump track?’” she says. 

They searched for something similar in their area, Cabra, she says. No luck. The only pump tracks she could find were far away: in Firhouse and Dún Laoghaire.

So Oran decided to write to the local councillors to see if there was any possibility of getting a track installed in his local Mount Bernard Park. 

“Pump tracks are very fun,” he wrote. “Pump tracks are good for exercise, and they encourage kids to be outside in the fresh air.”

Independent Councillor Cieran Perry says that after he got Oran’s email, the first thing he did was to look up pump tracks to find out what they were. As soon as he saw the design he agreed with Oran’s vision for the small local park, he says. 

“Younger children are catered for with a playground in the park, and a Pump track would provide a much-needed facility for older children,” says Perry in a motion he brought to the Central Area Committee on Wednesday.

Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll, who chairs the Central Area Committee, also asked the council area manager to explore installing a pump track. “Such an amenity would benefit older children who are not catered for in most playgrounds,” she said in a formal council question. 

What is a pump track?

Pump tracks can be made from a variety of materials: dirt, asphalt, concrete, fibre-glass, or even wood, says a blog on the Parkitect website. 

Parkitect is a manufacturer of modular pump tracks and it says they are suitable for use, not just on bikes and skateboards, but also on scooters and roller blades. 

You don’t need to pedal a lot while using the track, says Oran. Instead, bikers use the small hills to build up speed by making a pumping motion with the front of the bike. 

O’Connor says the tracks are significantly different from a BMX track. She tried bringing Oran to the BMX track in St Anne’s Park, but the course was too challenging and not suitable for an eight-year-old, she says. 

“The pump tracks we visited in UK were much safer than a regular BMX track,” says O’Connor. She saw children aged as young as five or six enjoying the pump tracks, she says and they seemed safe. 

She also saw teens using them, she says. 

Trending tracks

“A pump track would be easy to build and not easy to vandalise,” says Oran in his email to councillors. “I think if you agree to put a pump track in Mount Bernard Park, you would see a lot of visitors and happy children.”

A few tracks have been built in the Dublin region in the last few years. 

In 2023, South Dublin County Council opened a pump track in Firhouse, and in the same year, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council opened one in Dún Laoghaire. 

South Dublin County Council also has a pump track in Jobstown. The council set aside €150,000 in its capital programme to pay for that track and also got a sports capital grant, according to the council’s website. 

A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said it has not tendered yet for a builder for another planned pump track at Carrigmore Park in Fortunestown. 

Insurance is not a major issue. “Insurance for these facilities are managed through our existing insurance policy,” said the spokesperson. 

Eoin Ó Broin, a Social Democrats councillor in South Dublin, says he has got requests from young people asking for more tracks. 

He is calling on the council to install a pump track as part of a development in Rathcoole, which includes housing and sports facilities. The council is considering that request, he says. 

Perry, the independent councillor, says to the best of his knowledge Dublin City Council doesn’t have any pump tracks yet. O’Connor said she couldn’t find any on the northside of the city. 

Councillors in the Central Area Committee on Wednesday unanimously agreed to Perry’s motion, which was seconded by independent Councillor Nial Ring.

The council officials said in response to his motion that they will think about it. “Parks Services will consider this proposal for future inclusion in upcoming park improvement plans for the area,” it says. 

By phone on Wednesday, Perry said he will continue to push for the council to deliver a pump track at Mount Bernard Park. 

“I was down having a look at it and there is definitely room down there and it caters for an older age group than the playground,” says Perry. 

There is “absolutely a shortage of play equipment for older children,” he says.