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Last Updated: Dec 12th, 2007 - 16:01:32 |
Ulster Velodrome Under Threat
By Tommy Lamb, Chairman, Cycling Ulster
Dec 12, 2007,
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Cycling Ulster has expressed grave concern over the future of the proposed new velodrome following news of the Draft Budget Proposals for Northern Ireland. In early March 2006 Sports Minister David Hanson unveiled plans to spend £50 million on Elite Facilities for N.I. Olympic Sports before 2010. To quote the Minister he said, "Approximately £50 million has been provisionally allocated for high priority sports infrastructure projects identified by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland. The money will be allocated through a series of bid competitions which will be handled by the Strategic Investment Board Ltd (SIB) and the Sports Council. The first competition will be advertised tomorrow. It will seek expressions of interest from project promoters for an Olympic sized swimming pool and the winning project could attract up to 75% of the capital costs,"
Cycling Ulster immediately launched a campaign to ensure that a velodrome was included in the plans. After a year's hard work and effort, not only from Cycling Ulster, Cycling Ireland, SNI (formerly SCNI), and interested bidders it emerged that three bids to build a velodrome (Belfast, Newry and Newcastle) were successful in reaching Phase Two of the Elite Facilities Programme. Cycling was the only sport to have three successful bids and it looked as if the Velodrome was a virtual certainty. Cycling was asked to make a presentation to the three bidders in early December and a lot of hard work and effort went into the preparation of the presentation. In late November we were told that the presentations were postponed until after the new year and immediately the alarm bells began to ring.
It now emerges that the draft budget, far from delivering the promised £53 million, has been slashed. Although North Down Borough Council has been awarded £15 million for the Olympic sized Swimming Pool, the remaining £38 million available to other sports has been reduced to £20 million.
It seems as if money from all the regions is being diverted to London for the 2012 Olympics ? perhaps Paris would have been the better option.
The initial euphoria sparked comments such as "Wonderful news. It is also a reflection of the enthusiastic support for the bid from around the regions of the UK and Northern Ireland can be justly proud.It will bring benefits to the province, in terms of sport and the economy. In the run-up to the event, competing nations will need to acclimatise and prepare for the Games. We can offer competitors, coaches, administrators and friends a warm welcome, good training facilities and a unique opportunity to experience our wide and varied culture." (David Hanson) Dame Mary Peters, who won Olympic gold in the pentathlon during the 1972 Munich Games, said she hoped some of the athletes would come to Northern Ireland to train prior to the games beginning.
"I come from Belfast and we are going to benefit just as much as the people of England because we are only an hour's flight away," she said.
Eric Saunders of the NI Sports Council said the win was a great source of inspiration for Northern Ireland's young people.
"The excitement here was overwhelming," he said. "The one thing that comes to mind immediately is a multi-sports stadium.
"Hopefully this will give it added impetus, but also we will have training camps because there are well over 100 nations taking part in the Olympic Games.
"They will be looking for training camp facilities here."
How things have changed in just over a year! What can we do realise our long held dream of an indoor velodrome. I don?t have to sell the idea to the cycling fraternity. We already know that we have future potential medal winners coming through our Junior and Youth ranks. We all know that following the building of the Manchester Velodrome GB has become one of the top ranked Track nations in the world producing several Olympic and World Champions. With the same facilities we could do the same.
What we are asking every cyclist to do is to lobby anyone with influence. We urge you to write to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister and also to Minister Edwin Poots of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, not only protest at the current funding levels but to point out the massive impact that a Velodrome would bring to our country.
We sympathise very much with Sport N.I. and the bidders who have invested heavily in both financial and workload terms and must feel very let down at the moment. However the Draft Budget is open to public consultation until January 4th. Now is the time to make your voice heard.
If the budget is not increased we must do everything possible to ensure that the Velodrome receives priority in the reduced £20 million allocation for Elite Facilities.
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