Dunedin City Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece hopes an agreement can be reached with Cycling Otago which will allow the Taieri College cycling team access to the Mosgiel velodrome in the future.
Cycling Otago and breakaway club Kiwi Cycling Club have locked handlebars over the use of the council-owned facility and the school has been caught in the middle of the dispute.
Cycling Otago holds the lease on the venue and refused Kiwi Cycling Club access in October last year, unless it signed a user agreement which asked the club meet certain health and safety requirements and pay a fee of $50 per night.
The school team became entangled in the debate when it was asked to leave the venue earlier this month by Cycling Otago president Chris Henderson, who told the Otago Daily Times he believed the team was from Kiwi Cycling Club.
"I spoke to the kids about it and said, 'Look, you are not allowed to be here under Kiwi Cycling Club. It is for your own safety. There is no-one here that is a first-aid provider.' It was not like I kicked them out," he said.
Wayne Evans, who is an executive member of the Kiwi Cycling Club and is also a suspended member of Cycling Otago, was at the velodrome that day in his capacity as coach of the Taieri College track cycling team, and told the Otago Daily Times he wanted to keep politics and personalities out of the debate.
"My only concern is for the development of the sport and we need to make sure we have somewhere for young riders to practise," he said.
Cycling Otago signed a 14-year lease agreement with the DCC in July 2001 and will meet the council today hoping to reach a resolution.
Clause 12 of the agreement states the "lessee shall have the right (but shall not refuse a reasonable request) to make the premises available (subject to Council's Reserve Management Plan - General Policies) for occasional hire/use by persons or group activities, including other clubs ..."
"There are obviously questions being raised about the lease and what it allows and what it doesn't allow in terms of participation in the velodrome," Reece said.
"There is a lease in place and agreed upon, but if there is no flexibility then obviously it is not a good look, but that is what the meeting will be about."
Reece said he hoped a temporary solution or an agreement could be reached.
However, Taieri College cycling manager Melvin Tudor said any resolution would come too late for the school's track cycling team.
The squad, which was preparing for the South Island championships in Invercargill later this month, has not been able to train since it was asked to leave the velodrome three weeks ago and has pulled out of the event.
