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news
Construction gets underway of Derby's new Velodrome
A symbolic start was made on Thursday on the £22 million Multisport Arena that will house Derby’s new velodrome just six months after the project was on the verge of being scrapped following a change of control in the city’s council.
The ground-breaking ceremony comes ahead of actual construction work beginning next Monday 26 November and accompanied the signing of a contract with Sport England which has pledged £3 million of funding via its Iconic Facilities Olympic and Paralympic legacy fund.
The future of the project had been thrown into doubt after a change of control at Derby City Council, with Labour, which had been against the plans while in opposition, looking as though it might pull the plug.
A campaign led by local cyclists helped persuade the council to continue its support for the project, however. Some contractual details relating to environmental issues still needed to be resolved.
However, in July, Bowmer & Kirkland were appointed to build the complex with Environmental Agency approval for the works on a former landfill site being secured the following month.
Richard Lewis, Chair of Sport England, commented: "There will be a fantastic sporting experience on offer for everyone at the Arena, from a world-class velodrome to a 12-court sports hall.
“No project has received a larger investment from our Olympic and Paralympic legacy fund and I’m confident this facility will be a source of pride for the region where local people will be inspired to develop a sporting habit for life."
Covering 14,500 square metres and located next to Derby County FC’s Pride Park Stadium, the complex includes a 250-metre track constructed to national standard, and there is also a 1.5-kilometre cycle circuit on the outside.
Ian Drake, Chief Executive of British Cycling, said: "It's fantastic news that work is about to start on the Derby velodrome.
“Cycling's sensational summer is inspiring thousands of people to get into the sport and this facility is part of the legacy from London hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“British Cycling is working closely with the council on the project, including an outdoor closed road circuit, to give people riding at all levels across the region a facility that they can be proud of."
The facility is due to open in November 2014 and even ahead of the project being given the go-ahead, cycling clubs from Derbyshire and further afield were queueing up to request booking slots on the track.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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11 comments
It will be great for me and anyone else living in the Midlands. Travelling to Manchester or Newport is a good 3 hrs round trip, add to that 2 hours on the track and 30 mins either side of that. It's a long day out just to ride the track.
Travelling to Derby will be so much better!!!!!
Well done Derby
Does anyone have the contact details of the prime movers for the Derby Velodrome?
Its bloody FANTASTIC news - and I dont live anywhere near it!
We could actually see more all year round Track races broadcast on TV in the future than actual road races from the dwindling Premier Cal race series!
Its also great to hear that an outdoor track is being built into the plans as only London has this feature I believe...correct me if im wrong.
These Elephants are more like the colour of money, but only from a sporting perspective. Its great that most feature indoor multi-sport arenas and can also host concerts etc as they will need that for cash flow. Id hate to see them relient on sport for cash as otherwise it will be restrictive to development for all. However you need only look at the O2 arena in London to see that these elephants can be put to work sucessfully....with a bit of backing.
Me too parts and labour. I live just 13 miles away. Will be itching to get in there for some track time. Gonna be great for the local schools to use too. Plenty of kids who love riding bikes here.
Well done Derby!
Key to remember that Derby's velodrome will be housed inside a mutlisport arena and I believe the plan is to also use it for concerts etc. Hopefully then, this will not become a 'whilte elephant'.
I think there's a new velodrome in London too
So - Glasgow, Newport, Manchester and Derby? Is that the only four? That's OK I think. What worries me slightly is if people start building them all over the place and we end up with twenty of them... realistically even with the amazing success we've had recently there are only so many people who can/will take up track cycling and I would hate for the image of cycling in this country to be tarnished by a load of white elephants sitting around gathering dust and debt. If there's a surplus of money flowing into cycling it would be better spent on infrastructure, public education (for cyclists and non-cyclists!) and so on.
Definitely five, as there's the London one. Well spread as well- South East/Midlands/North West/South Wales/Central Scotland. Should surely be able to cope with a South West and North East one as well?
'white elephants gathering dust'???Are you for real? Have you ever tried to book track time on one of these velodromes? The demand is through the roof! There are lots of people queuing up, travelling far and wide to these facilities. Here in the northeast we have to travel to Manchester for our closest indoor session and we don't even have any outdoor tracks that aren't derelict to train on. We've got a black hole of provision up here that desperately needs to be plugged. Get kids into the sport in a traffic free environment, get their parents into it, widen the appreciation of cycling as both a sport and means of daily human propulsion!
Congrats Derby I salute you!
Having four 250 m indoor velodromes in the UK will be brilliant for ensuring future participation in track cycling. There isn't another country with more (250 m, indoor), is there?
Anyone know how many 50 m swimming pools there are in the UK?