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22
Jan
'No plans' for bike track in Harrogate's Valley Gardens, council says
The prospect of a bike track being installed at Harrogate's Valley Gardens seems unlikely to materialise.
North Yorkshire Council, which owns the town-centre site, first mooted the idea to replace the nine-hole pitch-and-putt golf course with a pump track in November 2023.
Pump tracks are used by cyclists and scooter riders to navigate the natural bumps and bends in land to generate momentum.
The authority launched a six-week consultation on the plans at the time, and said the track would provide an additional free activity for young people.
The council previously told the Stray Ferret the new track could have been unveiled as early as the following April, but by March 2024, this was then pushed back to the following winter.
The Stray Ferret has followed the saga closely, but the track never came to fruition.
Now more than two years on, the council has revealed the proposal has been shelved.
Jonathan Chubb, the authority’s head of parks and grounds, told the Stray Ferret:
The responses to the public consultation have been carefully considered, and while there are no plans for a pump track, we want to prioritise more general improvements in and around Valley Gardens. Details of our proposals will be revealed in the next few months.
The Stray Ferret asked the council why the idea of a pump track has been thrown out, but a spokesperson simply referred back to the authority’s plans to “prioritise more general improvements” at Valley Gardens.
Pump tracks are designed to encourage movement with minimal pedalling. They have been described as being like a small rollercoaster for BMX riders.
There is already a pump track in Wetherby, as pictured above.
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