City of Cockburn awards construction tender for BMX park at Bibra Lake

The City of Cockburn has endorsed a $6.88 million construction tender for the long-awaited Malabar Park BMX facility redevelopment at Perth’s Bibra Lake.

The facility’s key user, Cockburn BMX Club, will benefit from a new racing track with a 5-metre start ramp and a new clubroom that will be capable of hosting national-level events.

With the contract for its construction awarded to MG Group (Menchetti Consolidated Pty Ltd), City of Cockburn Head of Recreation, Andrew Tomlinson advised “the proposal was endorsed by Council as part of the Community, Sport and Recreation Facilities Plan in 2018 including concept designs for a new track, clubroom building, start ramp, offices and lighting.

“The project had progressed through a number of hurdles, seeking endorsement from the Contaminated Sites Auditor and applying for funding, with further unfortunate delays and cost increases caused by the pandemic to contend with.”

The redeveloped site, which will be open for broader community use, will also include a car park, lighting, pump track, playground, barbecue facilities and a public toilet, plus storage space for future tenant, local charity Friends of the Community.

The Friends of the Community, which was named Community Volunteer Organisation of the Year at the 2023 WA Volunteer of the Year Awards, is a Cockburn-based organisation that provides food at local events, and donates 100% of profits to the community.

Work is scheduled for completion by December 2024 and funding includes a $100,000 grant from the Western Australian Government’s Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund for floodlighting.

Cockburn BMX Club will provide a $20,000 contribution upon the project’s completion.

Tomlinson added “we’re very happy to finally see this shovel-ready project at a stage where work can begin converting a previous landfill site into a co-located facility set to benefit a broad range of uses.

“The new facility will benefit the whole community, particularly local up and coming BMX enthusiasts primed for the opening of what will be a high-quality regional facility able to host national-level events that will help the sport grow even further.”