'It’s like a scene from an apocalyptic movie': BMX track abandoned because of 'dangerous' gas

It’s like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. Our drone flies over a state-of-the-art BMX track that hosted Olympians and the British Championship just three years ago. Today it is abandoned.

The reason it has gone to ruin since those Championships is because Blaby District Council say it’s too dangerous. There’s an old landfill site beneath it and too much methane gas has been coming out of it.

The nearby leisure centre was also closed in 2021 but reopened the following year. The council has spent £1.5m on trying to sort the issues and opened more of the site last year but not the BMX Track.

The track cost over £130k to build in 2015 with money from Sport England and the National Lottery. A petition calling for it to reopen has gained over 2,000 signatures.

Jan Freakley, Chairman of Leicester Huncote BMX Club said: “It’s heartbreaking. It’s been a lot of hard graft over the last 15 years, enjoyable hard graft but nevertheless hard graft and when you’re battling against people that just put the shutters up and ignore you when you’re doing good for the community I don’t get it.”

The council owns the land and is in a dispute with the BMX Club over its lease. There has been a breakdown in trust with the club fearing it wants to kick them out to use the area for something else.

“The gas levels have been used an excuse over the last 12 months. We brought in our own gas consultant, one of the top six in the country, he said we could go back tomorrow,” Jan added.

The council has apologised for the issues, and insist the gas is not being used as an excuse. In a statement it said: “The last part of the site which is currently under increased monitoring and management due to changing gas levels is on the area of land where the BMX track sits and the land to the rear of the leisure centre.

“This section has proved to be more complex, with landfill gas levels fluctuating, meaning it has been much more challenging to reduce the gas levels to a consistent and acceptable range. Additional works in this area were undertaken in November and December 2023 and monitoring of their impact is ongoing.

“The area around the track is particularly challenging with high levels of gas detected and the state of the land compromised resulting from essential maintenance works. The area is currently unsafe and cannot be reopened to the public.

“As to be expected following the issues found at and around the track we are now reviewing the use of the site as a whole. Ongoing legal discussions with Huncote Hornets relate to both the existing concerns and the expired lease and therefore, we are unable to provide comment on the negotiations at this time.”

Councillor Terry Richardson, Leader of Blaby District Council, said: “We recognise the frustration felt by Huncote Hornets. It’s crucial to clarify that ‘fluctuating landfill gas’ is not being used as an excuse, the area is currently deemed unsafe for public use. The Council remains dedicated to ongoing legal discussions with the Club.

“We can only apologise for the impact on the community’s use of the land but our priority is to safeguard residents from potential harm. The safety of all site users, whoever they are, remains our absolute priority and we are committed to continuous monitoring and management to ensure a safe environment.”