General News
23 November, 2025
Eleven-year-old drives pump track proposal
ELEVEN-year-old Jerome Baker has put a petition and proposal to the Northern Grampians Shire Council about installing a pump track in Stawell. This is not just a story about wanting a pump track, but also about how a young citizen has put everything together to try and turn his idea to fruition, which could encourage other young people to pursue their ideas for the community.
Jerome explained why he wants a pump track and what a pump track is.
“It will be a good place for kids and families to come together and have a great time riding around the track and hanging out,” he said.
“A pump track is a bike track for scooters, bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and whatever else you can ride around in, on a track which features rollers and jumps.”
Jerome approached Cr Jenny Greenberger about his idea, and she encouraged him and helped him along the way.
“I heard that Jenny was wanting people to approach her about ideas, and my friend, Louis Fletcher, told me about it, and I said I had a great idea, and I told her about it,” he said.
“She suggested that I should do a petition and talked me through it and helped out with what ideas I should use, and I learned how the letter should be structured to the council.”
Jerome said he put his petition in many places around the town.
“I went to the skate park family event, the Stawell Primary School, Stawell Show, Stawell Tennis Club, Library and the Leisure Centre,” he said.
Jerome’s petition has 234 signatures, and he said he was proud of his effort.
“It’s really good and it’s great that so many people want this to be in Stawell,” he said.
Jerome also has encouraging words for other younger people who have ideas.
“I want to encourage them to pursue their ideas and make them happen and to not give up,” he said.
“You need to think positively about what would happen if it got approved and what could happen and what could come of it.”
On Wednesday, November 19, Jerome formally handed his petition and proposal to Cr Greenberger who explained the next steps.
“I will now hand this to our Governance Manager, Mary Scully, and it will be tabled at our next council meeting on December first where it will sit on the table for a month,” she said.
“From there, we will get a report back on how the council will manage the petition, and the council will write a letter back to him saying it has been received and what the result will be.”
Cr Greenberger said she loved the idea when it was presented to her.
“I think it’s a good idea, and my motivation for working with Jerome is that I have a teaching background, and I could educate and empower him and others,” Cr Greenberger said.
“I thought it would be good to work with him on how to approach the council and bring good ideas to fruition if you work through the process, and it doesn’t matter what age the person is.
“When he approached me, I thought his idea was fantastic, and I talked about how a petition is a good way to go about it and how he could formulate it.”
“I also talked to him about what else he needed to do, such as writing a covering letter with ideas and what sort of pump track he wants for Stawell,” Cr Greenberger added.
Read More: Stawell