I have managed to construct a brief that is in-line with the module requirements whilst also benefitting the local community.

As a child I loved riding my BMX and was lucky enough to have a BMX “pump” track right on my doorstep in my home town of Redditch (52°17’40.0”N 1°54’17.0”W). As it turns out, this track is actually a historical landmark, being the first of its kind in the UK and is deeply rooted in the history and origins of the UK BMX industry. 20 years on, and it is an overgrown, desolate site, superseded by a brand new, Olympic standard, gated BMX racetrack built just meters away. This has always left a pain in me, and I have been waiting for an opportunity to do something about it.

North to South: original pump track, skate park, new BMX racetrack and storage facilities, local pub.
How the site has deteriorated since 1999. I last used the track in 1994.

Upon dissecting the potential briefs, I noticed that I could adapt the specifications to create a project based around the historical pump track - specifically the Eden Project brief. So I arranged a meeting with local council employee and Parks & Green Space Recreation Officer Jackie Boreham, putting forward some rough ideas based around historical preservation using GPS and AR technologies. It turns out that the council are actually in the throws of putting together a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (and possibly Sport England) to support development work on this site, so any work I do could potentially support their application.

The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community. — Jeff Bridges