£19million National Indoor BMX Centre
You might have read about this else where but I’ve just found it in my inbox. Sounds like good news for the BMX race crew, especialy if you live near Manchester.
I know BMX is an Olympic sport but I can’t help thinking that £19 million would have built a rather nice chair lift and cafe in South Wales.
I’ll give the BC a phone and get a break down on the costs.
The final £8million needed to build the National Indoor BMX Centre in Manchester has been invested by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The £19million National Indoor BMX Centre will be the first covered venue in the UK and is expected to attract over 120,000 users every year. It will host a range of local, national and international events.
Manchester City Council has already granted £8.55million and Sport England granted £3million, which left an £8million shortfall. Planning permission was given in September.
The BMX Centre will be built in east Manchester at Sportcity, which is already home to the Manchester Velodrome, the National Squash Centre, the Regional Tennis Centre, the Regional Athletics Arena and the English Institute of Sport North West Support Centre, together with six regional or national governing bodies.
The BMX Centre will work alongside the adjacent Velodrome to provide the home of the GB Cycling squad across a wide range of disciplines. Together with the Velodrome they will form the National Cycling Centre.
Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA, said:
“The National Indoor BMX Centre will bring yet another world class sporting venue to East Manchester which will create new job opportunities for local residents and enhance Sportcity’s reputation as an international destination for sports events.
“The opportunity to invest in the BMX Centre and to further invest in Sportcity will take the combined facilities to a new level, setting the standards for sport locations to a level unmatched anywhere in Europe.”
The BMX Centre will include a link building to the Manchester Velodrome and will comprise of a 15,300m2 building incorporating a 100x70m cycling track. It will feature space for up to 2,000 spectators, a café and office accommodation for national governing body, British Cycling.
British Cycling currently employs 100 training and management positions based in Manchester, and introduction of the BMX facilities will safeguard over 140 jobs and secure the city’s status as its headquarters and primary training centre.
As part of its planned expansion, British Cycling will also be creating over 50 new jobs to be accommodated within the BMX centre (alongside the creation of 12 jobs associated with the building’s operation).
With over 200 employees after its planned expansion, this will make British Cycling one of the largest employers in East Manchester.
Additionally, by strengthening Manchester’s reputation as a location for sport, the BMX Centre will act as a catalyst for business development. The intention is that it will attract advanced cycling and wider performance enhancement technology firms into the region.
This will allow for development of the sports cluster, generating economic and reputational benefits for East Manchester and the Northwest.
Ian Drake, CEO of British Cycling, said: “We are delighted that all funding has now been approved for this tremendous project. The National Indoor BMX Centre will be a fantastic venue for the GB Cycling Team and will aid our preparations for London 2012. As a community facility, it will also offer local youngsters a rare opportunity to train alongside British BMX stars, inspiring future generations of riders and growing the discipline at grass roots. In addition, the purpose built office in the middle of the two facilities will provide plenty of space to accommodate our growing team and allow the GB Cycling Team to optimise the space within the Velodrome for elite performance.”
Underpinned by medal success, and the inclusion of BMX as an Olympic sport at the 2008 Beijing Games, cycling in the UK is currently enjoying huge popularity at both elite and non-professional levels.
Development of the National Indoor BMX Centre will allow Manchester to broaden the range of high profile national and international events it is able to secure, as well as supporting the country’s elite athletes and providing facilities for the local community.
The new BMX Centre is expected to attract over 20,000 spectators from the UK and further afield every year, on top of an estimated 120,000 users of the facilities each year.
It is anticipated that the centre will host 10-12 events every year. The events programme is proposed to include high profile events such as the UCI Supercross BMX World Cup, the UEC European Championships Rounds and the BC National BMX Championships.
However, in addition to traditional BMX and supercross uses, the centre will host a wider events programme including netball, basketball and badminton competitions.
GB Cycling Squad and national BMX team
One of the key objectives of the BMX Centre is to support Manchester and the Northwest’s contribution to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games by providing better facilities for some 60 elite athletes, including 20 involved in BMX and related disciplines and 40 in the main cycling squad.
The national BMX team will also use the BMX Centre as a training base which will be important to athletes’ preparations for major events including London 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Eddie Smith, chief executive of New East Manchester said: “It’s great news that finally we have all the funding in place as it means Manchester can yet again lead the way and deliver the world’s first bespoke indoor BMX track. The arena will be the centre piece of a new Velopark offering a full range of cycling disciplines for both elite athletes and the community. Not only will this investment consolidate Manchester’s position as the home of British cycling, but it will further enhance the City’s cultural and sporting offer, attributes that are vital for Manchester to excel on the global stage.”
Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure at Manchester City Council, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news for the city and will give the local community access to yet another world class sports facility. We place a great deal of emphasis on nurturing and supporting our young sporting talent and I’m delighted that we are now able to provide them with even more opportunities. Sir Chris Hoy himself started his career as a BMXer and we hope that one day one of our own local youngsters will bring an Olympic medal home to east Manchester. This is certainly a good start.”
In ‘bloody’ door?! What the hell. What a week. Its about as much as I can take seeing the likes of All Black legends Carter and McCaw running around a gym in the Vale of Glamorgan. BMX indoor is just another nail in the softening up process. Look there’s nothing the All Blacks like more than a good old arm wrestle in the pissing wet. What these BMX pussies need is a good old dose of rain and muck in their bloody hubs not a cosy hall with a coffee room. They can harden the fXXX up down at Brynmawr, Bristol or Crewe track in some real conditions. Anyhow British Cycling split the cheque and send us some cash for a couple of chairlifts, im sure more people want to get out of the house and into the hills on their mountainbikes than go to yet another arena, complex.
Jones,i couldn’t agree more.A measly couple of mil would buy a descent chairlift.What a waste of our cash.Don,t get me wrong i love bmx but it seems a bit of overkill.
why don’t they buy the disused chairlift at alton towers it does nothing and would be well cheap!!!!!!!
Get it done only not in wales in scotland!!
What the hell! Manchester gets another bmx track, wheras Bristol has been granted £21mil to be the capital of cycling in the UK. And where is that money going? Still woods is closed and the council only seem to be putting more cycle lanes in the roads, to try and get people commuting by bike. I’m pretty sure that far more people would commute by bike if we had an indoor bmx track in the centre of town.
whinge whinge bloody whinge!
Cycling has got another massive boost which is going to help people like shanaze reade prepare for the games. an indoor facility gives the athletes the opportunities to train all year round like athletes in fairer climates.
You’re all moaning at the BMX’ers not getting wet, then you’re asking for a chairlift? Heard of pedalling up you softies?
Chris,have you tried pedalling a 40lb DH bike up hill?Fun it aint.Shanaze Reade and co should buy a descent jacket and rough it like all us nobodys.You can’t beat a good whinge!
sounds awesome but the chair lift idea… well… would be nice wouldn’t it?
Chaps. Have you seen how much it rains in manchester? Anyway -how this can be a bad thing for british cycling i dont know. building on the success of the track team at the olympics maybe the bigwigs are thinking to build an all weather bmx track to train on will bring the same reward?
On the chairlift front, i just dont see it getting the use to warrent the investment, bit of a negative view but if it was a workable idea it would of been done in my view.
Lard – Yeah I have mate, I was just kidding! A chairlift in the south would be awesome, but like Dave says, probably not workable
“British Cycling currently employs 100 training and management positions based in Manchester” Is that where my race license fee has been going the past 9 years!! Who designed it with all those stairs? I think there should be a big line of doubles that launch you over the wall at the end and into the main arena, if you make it, you’re in! Sort the neds with their stolen Halfords BMXs from the real riders.
I never even opened this thread, i just looked at the picture and the title and the first thing that came to mind was fuck sake’s they spend all that money on a sport that… to be honest does not half have as a many mtb bikers unless you come from the USA doing it.
Then i opened the thread and its good to see everyone on the same wagon..
Get a grip UCfuckingI.
Manchester council and GMP (police) over the last decade have continually wasted rate payers money hounding local kids on bmx bikes by not letting them use local wasteland to hone their riding skills (There’s plenty of it in Manchester). Now they waste even more money by opening this centre which will benefit only rich sprogs with daddies that can drive them across town and pay what I assume will be an extortionate entrance fee. The kids from places like Moss Side and Salford will continue to be killed on the streets by not having local off road areas to play in – that’s if they don’t get an ASBO first. The councillors have only one brain cell between them and that only thinks about creating new schemes to protect their excessive pay packets – they make me sick.