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    06

    Nov 2023

    Last Updated: 06/11/2023
    Environment
    Environment

    Valley Gardens bike track — further details revealed

    by John Plummer

    | 06 Nov, 2023
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    wetherbypumptrack2-1
    Wetherby Pump Track

    Further details of the proposed new bike track in Harrogate's Valley Gardens have been revealed.

    North Yorkshire Council is running a six-week consultation on whether to replace the nine-hole pitch and putt course with a pump track.

    Pump tracks use bumps and bends in the land to allow cyclists and scooter riders to generate momentum.

    The consultation says the "new facility would be approximately 2,000 square metres".

    However, the council has now said the track itself wouldn’t be this size, and much of the pitch and putt course would be returned to grassland.

    A council spokesperson said the track, which would cost £2,000, is likely to be similar in size to the one in Wetherby, which is shown below and in the main image. It could be open by April.



    A council spokesperson said:

    "It is a small beginners track that would be made of compacted hardcore.
    "It would be 1 to 1.5 metres wide and will be based in a circular shape.
    "The pump track is aimed at beginners to complement the existing skate park that attracts older and more competent children.
    "It is not going to cover the whole area of the pitch and putt, only a smaller area where holes one to nine are. The frisbee golf is staying."


    Asked what would happen to the remainder of the pitch and putt area, the spokesperson added:

    "The whole pitch and putt course would be closed and the remainder would be returned to normal parkland."


    Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director for environment, previously said:

    “The track proposed would have gentle slopes, curves and bumps, be accessible all year, and replace the existing nine-hole pitch and putt golf course.”