The \u00a3150,000 facility is currently being built on an underutilised part of the school\u2019s campus, backing onto homes in Grasmere Gardens. It will consist of a 480-metre trail split into two loops, with a free-flowing area including jumps and obstacles, with teachers saying it will provide an alternative to riding on \u201cbusy roads\u201d or on pavements.<\/p>\n
The planning application was met with vocal criticism from Grasmere Gardens residents, who claimed the creation of the track would place their \u201cpeace and privacy\u201d<\/a> under threat, comparing the potential noise to \u201cliving next to a motorway\u201d. 23 letters were also submitted to the local authority\u2019s planning portal opposing the proposals.<\/p>\n Amid this criticism, the plans for the track were originally submitted in January 2024 and rejected last year, but were eventually granted in April following revisions and an \u201cacoustic assessment\u201d submitted to the council, which failed to show a drastic impact in noise levels on neighbouring properties.<\/p>\n However, with the track now nearing completion, these criticisms have reemerged this week, as locals claim the facility has caused privacy and safeguarding concerns.<\/p>\n Speaking to KentOnline<\/a>, Grasmere Gardens resident Ian Price, whose sons\u2019 bedrooms overlook the track, criticised the location of the mountain bike and BMX trail and said his family have already seen young cyclists looking into their home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never had an issue with them having the cycle track,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they\u2019ve got a massive playing field area, and they chose to put it right against all the back fences of the residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other day, there were some kids at the top of the track who saw us and started waving and smiling.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as being used by students during school hours, the track will also be open outside term time, from 8am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 2pm on weekends and bank holidays.<\/p>\n And Price argues that, due to this range of opening hours, the school needs to install an opaque barrier around the track, instead of the standard chain link fencing currently in place.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re going to have it there, I\u2019d rather they had a screen around it \u2013 maybe a solid wall \u2013 and then they could put a gate on it and lock it up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat way, when it\u2019s in use, they\u2019ll be confined within that area and not looking out on us.\u201d<\/p>\n >\u00a0\u201cGod forbid children get outside and have fun\u201d: Police slammed for taping off grass \u2018ramp\u2019 used by young cyclists, amid concerns over anti-social behaviour, damage, and near misses with drivers<\/a><\/p>\n Price also told the website that children are currently ignoring the \u2018do not use\u2019 signs on display at the track, and have been using it to ride their bikes over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another neighbour has even claimed that the track\u2019s installation has \u201cruined\u201d their quality of life, while fearing that it will \u201cattract the wrong type of people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about where they are going to sit and drink alcohol at night,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s ruined living here and devalued our houses massively.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to these concerns from residents, a spokesperson for Folkestone Academy pointed out that the fence separating the trail from the houses in Grasmere Gardens is of sufficient height and has been used by neighbours to install bushes and plants, blocking their view of the school grounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThe site is well secured to deter unauthorised access out of hours,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThe fencing between the school’s land and the adjacent housing is more than two metres high, with many houses using our fencing as a trellis for plants and bushes in their gardens.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that this bike track will offer our students and local young people an exciting space where they can enjoy physical activity and develop new skills.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many of our children their only alternative is to cycle on busy roads or along pavements and this facility is unique in Folkestone in offering a specialist mountain bike trail.\u201d<\/p>\n >\u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re saying bikes and kids aren\u2019t welcome\u201d: Conservationists slammed for \u201cvindictive\u201d destruction of children\u2019s bike track \u2013 but councillor says work will stop speeding cyclists and \u201cundo harm\u201d in wood<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, the residents of Grasmere Gardens aren\u2019t alone when it comes to opposing cycling facilities used by children.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, we reported that a group of conservation volunteers in Sheffield were accused of leaving a wooded area \u201cin a mess\u201d<\/a> after a popular children\u2019s mountain bike trail was dug up and destroyed in what locals have described as a \u201cmalicious and vindictive\u201d act targeting young cyclists.<\/p>\n In June, a park ranger and 15 volunteers from the Friends of the Porter Valley (FOPV) conservation group dug up and removed an \u201cunapproved\u201d bike track on a steep slope in Trippet Wood, in Sheffield\u2019s Bingham Park nature reserve.<\/p>\n According to the park\u2019s Ranger Service, the track was \u201cmuch larger in scale\u201d than similar trails in the valley, containing a series of jumps, bankings, and ramps, \u201ccausing a significant amount of damage due to excavation (at depth) of the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n But after the move was criticised by locals as \u201cspiteful\u201d and an indication that \u201cbikes and kids aren\u2019t welcome in the woods\u201d, a local councillor who took part in the \u201cunsanctioned\u201d track\u2019s destruction insisted that the work was necessary to repair the damage allegedly caused by the trail, while arguing that it will \u201cremove the danger speeding cyclists pose to other woods users\u201d.<\/p>\n In May, police in Shropshire were criticised by local cyclists for taping off a grass area in the grounds of a village hall<\/a>, which was reportedly used by schoolchildren on mountain bikes as a ramp, sparking concerns about potential collisions with passing motorists.<\/p>\n And in July 2024, a group of young cyclists in Lancashire were criticised by conservationists for allegedly causing \u201cserious\u201d damage<\/a> to a nature reserve by digging up parts of the earth to create mountain bike jumps.<\/p>\n![\"Folkestone](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/folksetone-academy-google-maps.jpg\" "\\"Folkestone")
Folkestone Academy (credit: Google Street View)<\/p>\n![\"Conservationists,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/conservationists-dig-childrens-bike-track-sheffield-2.jpeg\" "\\"Conservationists,")
Conservationists, including Lib Dem councillor Barbara Masters, dig up children\u2019s bike track in Sheffield (credit: Friends of the Porter Valley)<\/p>\n![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/police-tape-grass-bank-baschurch-village-hall-grounds-used-young-cyclists.jpg\" "\\"Police")
Police tape off grass bank in Baschurch village hall grounds used by young cyclists (credit: Oswestry and Ellesmere Police)<\/p>\n
![\"Woodland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/woodland-fenced-after-children-create-bike-track-bon-afron-housing-association.jpg\" "\\"Woodland")
Woodland fenced off after children create bike track (credit: Bon Afron Housing Association)<\/p>\n