A downhill mountain bike track leading to the BMX track under construction in Oamaru could help "keep more kids on their bikes", Mountain Biking North Otago says.
Club president Andrew Milne will present a pitch for a $60,000 downhill course from the summit of the hill overlooking the former landfill site to Beach Rd to Waitaki district councillors next week at a public hearing of submissions on the council’s 2018-28 long-term plan.
The club has already built about 20km of tracks at Cape Wanbrow and Oamaru Reservoir since its inception in 2011. In his submission to the council, Mr Milne writes, the club "has created a huge recreational and tourism asset for our district at very little cost".
Further, he said in Cromwell a BMX track, pump track, jump track and children’s learner track "sit side by side".
The club backed a walking and cycling path for Oamaru connecting Cape Wanbrow to Bushy Beach Rd; a car park at the end of Test St at Cape Wanbrow — where the club had developed 7km of tracks — bike stands in Lower Thames St and at the harbour; and requested an increase in its maintenance grant.
At present, the club has access to $5000 a year for maintenance, repairs, and development but would like $15,000 a year. Several of the 158 submitters to the plan endorsed the club’s plans. Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said he would need more information but external funding could be available for some of the projects pitched by the community.
"You’ve got to look at things on their merits," he said.
"Is this the case of us putting in some seeding funding and other funding being sought and we end up with a great facility? We’ve got to look at it.
"I think we’ve got a good track record at looking at things generally with an open mind but also with a bit of lateral thinking about how can we make this — if we think it’s worthwhile enough — how can we make it happen at a cost our community can afford."
Tourism Waitaki also faces a $100,000 a year shortfall from operating the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail over the next three years.
In its submission to the Waitaki District Council’s 2018-28 long-term plan, the council-controlled tourism body asked for a $50,000 increase in annual funding to a total $150,000 a year.
Tourism Waitaki would reduce its spending on the trail by $25,000 and ask the Mackenzie District Council, where the trail begins, for a further $25,000 a year.
