Whatever happened to the proposed new indoor volodrome?

Michelin

Just wondering whatever happened to this, there was a bit of activity up to a year or so ago? I remember seen pictures of a representative from the track in Sundrive meeting a politician on sticky bottle and somewhere else that it was granted planning permission I think?
Are the track commission or Cycling Ireland not interested in pursuing this anymore?
Shame to watch another generation of kids grow up without a proper modern indoor facility.

StevieGriff

Here's the latest update.

Beasty

They had planning permission, but as I understand it once they did a bit more work they realised it needed to be moved slightly. Not sure whether that formality has been completed yet.

Once all that is sorted there remains the question of funding, with both CI and Badminton Ireland needing to raise some cash as well as government funding (which was not included in the last Budget, but I understood this was the next sports stadium within the national sports campus due to get funding)

AFAIK they are still targeting having something up and running by the Tokyo Olympics

Michelin

StevieGriff wrote: »

Here's the latest update.

This article is from a year ago, and there is only one paragraph of relevance to the progress of the velodrome:

"Speaking to The Irish Times recently, Cycling Ireland chief executive Geoff Liffey said that five companies had applied and that this is currently being whittled down to a preferred bidder. When this has been done, Cycling Ireland will seek capital approval from government"

So according to this statement, they are looking at choosing someone to build it. So who is the 'preferred bidder'? Nothing since this. So back to my original question whatever happened to the velodrome? There really is no one taking any action about it, it would seem. progress is at a snails pace.

Michelin

Beasty wrote: »

They had planning permission, but as I understand it once they did a bit more work they realised it needed to be moved slightly. Not sure whether that formality has been completed yet.

Once all that is sorted there remains the question of funding, with both CI and Badminton Ireland needing to raise some cash as well as government funding (which was not included in the last Budget, but I understood this was the next sports stadium within the national sports campus due to get funding)

AFAIK they are still targeting having something up and running by the Tokyo Olympics

Thanks for that information, Beasty. I have a feeling it is been put on the (very) long finger. Maybe they do not have the human resources or the knowledge of how to really pursue it to the fullest.

StevieGriff

Michelin wrote: »

This article is from a year ago, and there is only one paragraph of relevance to the progress of the velodrome:

"Speaking to The Irish Times recently, Cycling Ireland chief executive Geoff Liffey said that five companies had applied and that this is currently being whittled down to a preferred bidder. When this has been done, Cycling Ireland will seek capital approval from government"

So according to this statement, they are looking at choosing someone to build it. So who is the 'preferred bidder'? Nothing since this. So back to my original question whatever happened to the velodrome? There really is no one taking any action about it, it would seem. progress is at a snails pace.

Yup. Don't shoot the messager.
Trying to find out what's happening with developments like this is also somewhat impossible. Similar to the MTB trail centre that was granted .5million and was due to break ground "any day now" in Glenflesk, Kerry about 4 years ago.

Michelin

StevieGriff wrote: »

Yup. Don't shoot the messager.
Trying to find out what's happening with developments like this is also somewhat impossible. Similar to the MTB trail centre that was granted .5million and was due to break ground "any day now" in Glenflesk, Kerry about 4 years ago.

Ah cheers StevieGriff.

Yeah id forgotten about that one...now thats a discipline that is growing massively through the popularity of endurance events last few years especially.

I cant help lamenting at the poor communication and wonder if that is debilitating progress with major infrastructural projects in cycling

Beasty

I've not seen much of the Sundrive guys over the past few months but with the track league kicking off again next week hopefully I'll garner a bit more "intelligence"

Harrybelafonte

Michelin wrote: »

Just wondering whatever happened to this, there was a bit of activity up to a year or so ago? I remember seen pictures of a representative from the track in Sundrive meeting a politician on sticky bottle and somewhere else that it was granted planning permission I think?
Are the track commission or Cycling Ireland not interested in pursuing this anymore?
Shame to watch another generation of kids grow up without a proper modern indoor facility.

Shame to watch the lack of support given to Sundrive velodrome as it is. Shame that the new velodrome will primarily be for performance-related teams.

It wasn't a representative from Sundrive meeting a politician. It was the chairman of the Track Commission who also brought the following to the CI AGM:

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/track-commission-launches-very-strong-criticism-of-cycling-ireland/

Beasty

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Shame to watch the lack of support given to Sundrive velodrome as it is. Shame that the new velodrome will primarily be for performance-related teams.

Will it? I ride a lot in Manchester and have also ridden Newport and Derby. In all cases there is extensive use by non-elites. Indeed, Manchester is the home of the British cycling squad but they manage more than 30 hours of public sessions plus separate sessions for kids and schools and 2 track leagues every week

The bigger issue for an Irish track will be getting enough qualified coaches (who should ideally be full time) to run such sessions, and indeed enough people wanting to give it a go (uptake will probably be slow initially but it will gather momentum as more people start to appreciate the benefits of and enjoyment from training on an indoor track, particularly over the winter when Sundrive is closed)

Michelin

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Shame to watch the lack of support given to Sundrive velodrome as it is. Shame that the new velodrome will primarily be for performance-related teams.

It wasn't a representative from Sundrive meeting a politician. It was the chairman of the Track Commission who also brought the following to the CI AGM:

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/track-commission-launches-very-strong-criticism-of-cycling-ireland/

Thanks Harrybelafonte, yes it was the chairman of the track Commission and thanks for the link to that article. Do you have any information as to what was the outcome after that meeting with the TD ? Did he (on behalf of the track commission meet with a TD or was it part of the bigger plan involving CI to lobby? Judging by the November article there is a disconnect between commission and CEO/Board?

Michelin

Beasty wrote: »

Will it? I ride a lot in Manchester and have also ridden Newport and Derby. In all cases there is extensive use by non-elites. Indeed, Manchester is the home of the British cycling squad but they manage more than 30 hours of public sessions plus separate sessions for kids and schools and 2 track leagues every week

The bigger issue for an Irish track will be getting enough qualified coaches (who should ideally be full time) to run such sessions, and indeed enough people wanting to give it a go (uptake will probably be slow initially but it will gather momentum as more people start to appreciate the benefits of and enjoyment from training on an indoor track, particularly over the winter when Sundrive is closed)

I have no doubt that the real gain will be the long-term development and popularity of cycling will be the winner of an indoor velodrome. Parents are dropping kids off to sports facilities in their droves each weekend. A brand new indoor cycling facility will be full of kids. Parents will have somewhere perceived as safe for their kids to participate in cycling

Michelin

If anyone knows anything about where things are at the moment, its always possible things are happening in the background. So as far as we know there are there is a tender process that was to be decided on a year ago. Was a company chosen? And what is the next step in the process and when is it happening?