British Cycling is pleased to announce that it has this week rubber-stamped funding awards towards three cycling facilities.
A total of almost £900,000 has been awarded across the three schemes: a new closed -road circuit (CRC) in Leicester, in partnership with New College and Leicester City Council; a new CRC in Hull in partnership with Hull City Council and Hull Culture and Leisure Trust; and refurbishment of Reading’s Palmer Park Velodrome in partnership with Reading Borough Council.
Work on all three facilities will commence in the coming months, with the three sites expected to be open to the public in 2017.
John Mills, British Cycling’s director of coaching, education and development, said: “We are delighted to be able to award this money to three very worthwhile projects.
"Working in conjunction with local authorities and other partner organisations, our aim is to create a network of traffic-free facilities at which people of all ages from across the country can learn to ride a bike, improve their cycling skills and take part in regular physical activity, whether that be racing or for recreation.
“This is another step towards doing just that, and we look forward to the facilities being fully operational and open to the public.”
In addition to the three new projects, construction of the CRC in Leeds is progressing well, and the new CRC in Wakefield has recently been completed. There continues to be strong interest in the development of cycle facilities across the country, with numerous expressions of interest already registered for 2017 and beyond.
Earlier this year, British Cycling announced that it has invested £10m in facilities since 2009, when Sport England Exchequer funding was first awarded directly to national governing bodies to fund facilities.
John Mills added: “The level of interest and appetite in developing new cycling facilities is tremendous, and we remain grateful to Sport England for their backing, and to the respective partner organisations for their determination to be part of our vision to make Britain a true cycling nation.
“The development of facilities is a crucial part of making this vision a reality, and we will continue to work hard to ensure that everyone in Britain has a suitable place to cycle.”
