GB track cyclist calls for indoor velodrome in Edinburgh

It would be great to have a covered velodrome in Edinburgh, but I think it's very unlikely that will happen, when there is a state-of-the-art facility already available in Glasgow. With limited funding available for sporting facilities, it would be difficult to justify building and maintaining two covered facilities 45 miles apart in Scotland.

I would be very keen to see a dedicated criterium road circuit at Hunters Hall. Edinburgh lacks such a facility at the moment. The privately owned circuit that is currently used for competition is unavailable for much of the year and is prohibitively expensive to hire. Despite this, the limited events that are held there are still very popular, so I think a new Council owned road circuit would be heavily used throughout the year for coaching, training and competition, and would complement Glasgow's track facility.
Unfortunately, I think the design illustrated above is compromised by trying to incorporate too many different activities, and the suggested road circuit would not be very effective.

Building an outdoor velodrome will just repeat the same issues the Meadowbank velodrome had. Which was inaccessibility when it's wet. Which is pretty much nearly all year in Scotland.

And for the council to say we don't need an indoor track, because all elite cyclist can just travel to Glasgow's, is a ludicrous notion! One way of encouraging more cyclists, is to build more facilities near where they live.

You know it's funny, one of GB most successful Olympians and track cyclists, Sir Chris Hoy, was born and bred in Edinburgh, yet the council would happily see another city, nurture possible future champions.

And I agree about Hunters Hall. It's a very poor location for the cycling facilities. It's not exactly centralised, or what you could call a "safe" area.

I ask for one in Bristol

My own feeling is that Hunters Hall is a poor choice of location for a cycling venue. The mugging rate and high ned count round there would mean anyone heading to such a facility on a quality bike would be targeted. My family lost a series of decent MTBs to local neds.

I still think Inverleith Park would've been a much better and more central location, not to mention a safer one as well.

I hope the nimby fraternity who whinged about a skatepark at Inverleith to the extent that it was blocked are happy with the influx of rats they got instead when the old boating pond was turned into a nature/wetlands reserve.

I use an outdoor velodrome all year around...so does a very successful junior club. Every day it is in use by some group or other and it is raced on in the summer and used for crits.

During the winter months road clubs use it for midweek training. Schools use it for cycling proficiency. Kids are taught to ride there, little kids. Others play soccer on the infield.

I would bite our council's arm off if they offered to extend the facility to include a crit track and grass racing bearing in mind the Newport has an indoor track not 10 miles away - that strangely I have no interest in using.

An indoor track is the only meaningful solution: all outdoor tracks can just as well be any closed road criterium parcours.

To keep costs down:
the venue has to be multifunctional - velodrome Alkmaar has the middle area for hockey/soccer etc.
entry fee's need to be asked (amsterdam velodrome has shared free training slots at 10Euro per person for 3 to four hours at a time - organised training @ 12 euro's)

Keep the velodrome small 200 meters or even a little less keeps it small and feeling fast

Why don't these people get it? We are not a hot country! There is a fab outdoor velodrome at Knowsley with is very popular but only usable in good weather. I think it is even colder and wetter in Scotland. Come on planners this is the UK, indoor velodromes make much more sence. Yes much more expensive but I would guess you would treble it's availability for use