£300,000 Gosport BMX track upgrade on the way

FUNDING from Sport England has been given to Gosport Borough Council for the upgrade of the town’s BMX track in order to help make it a national centre for the sport.

The council is planning to match the donation of £150,000 as part of the overall Alver Valley eastern gateway project.

This includes a new car park, upgraded cycle routes and the construction of a BMX pump track to support the training of new riders.

The £300,000 upgrade will involve the extension and reshaping of the track, a larger starting hill and the addition of an electronic starting gate.

The car park construction has already begun – it started at the end of May – and work is under way on the tendering process for the track-building project.

The council’s plan is to undertake the BMX track works next spring so that the new track is available for the second half of the 2017 season.

If the project goes according to plan, the whole thing will be completed by autumn next year.

Gosport BMX Club chairman Stuart Catford said: ‘We’d like to thank the council for their unwavering support. We’re overwhelmed and delighted to have secured this investment.

‘It will allow the club to deliver a unique facility to the local community and the south of England that meets the highest national and European standards.

‘It will be a facility that matches the quality of our riders while encouraging more people to take part in this fast, exciting and family-oriented sport.’

Councillor Graham Burgess, the chairman of the council’s community board, said: ‘BMX cycling at the Olympics drew huge audiences which has driven many more children into taking up the sport.

‘It’s important we provide the right facilities to enable them to develop their skills further and may be even become future Olympians themselves.’