British Cycling have declared that it doesn’t meet new regulations.

There’s a Facebook page to register interest/see progress on efforts to get it reinstated and I imagine there will be pressure on the council to carry out the necessary works on Britain’s oldest cycle track.

Not sure if they’re looking for actual help at the moment but keep an eye on here;

https://www.facebook.com/saveprestonparkcycletrack

Also look at http://www.scrl.co.uk/

This is REALLY sad news, spread the word please STW 🙁

Fence looks a bit dodgy, couple of big accidents at Portsmouth (including a fatality) may have meant they’ve had to tighten up their regs.

The fatality at Portsmouth was what triggered the British Cyclings Review. They came up with a massive list of things that need to be fixed before they will sanction racing again there. Things that should have been done like making sure the back of bolts aren’t sticking out on the track side, to trickier things like making sure the tarmac abuts the fence without gaps, and making sure there are no step changes in the fence, which is tricky when the outside of the track isn’t level.

The easiest thing would be to rebuild the fence inside the current fence, but that would probably be phohibitively expensive. Whatever repairs will be done will probably have to wait until spring, as this isn’t the weather for it, hence the lack of pressure at the moment I guess.

It would be a shame to lose such a great facility, they do wonders for local kids, and the adult racing provides a great dose of cheap weekly racing, without the egos you get at road races (and the cake is only 50p a slice). On the other hand, it will cost a lot of money to fix a facility that generates hardly any income, at a time the Council is facing massive cuts. It doesn’t help that British Cycling won’t compromise, as some of the things they have asked for are petty, but expensive to fix. Understandable though if they are going to sanction kids races there.

The will to get it sorted seems to be there, chances are it will get fixed this summer, with a bit of disruption to racing

bump for the morning folk.

Yes, raced there a few times and scored points on each occasion. Was not one of my favourite tracks. It is a squircle, with a pretty narrow track. This means that overtaking for position is limited. The barriers and wall make for a nasty hazard and crashes are not uncommon. I think it combined the worst of track and circuit race – no banking to speak of for track and no real corners or width for road racing.

Portsmouth sealed its fate. Apres have been running their racing at Cyclopark. But it is the oldest track in Britain and deserved to be raced on.

Dull as dishwater for road racing, agreed, but there aren’t many places you can let people race track bikes. There is always some great racing there, relatively few accidents, and it has been a breeding ground for some promising young cycling talent. If you’re not racing, its also quite nice to sit in the evening sun, having a beer, and watching it all unfold, even if it is rarely warm enough to do so.

Petition to ask the council to make the changes;

http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=447&TPID=13304131&

Article saying the council are happy to do the work but don’t want to pay for it;

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11740243.Racing_banned_at_Britain_s_oldest_cycle_track/

[Top tip: it’s probably best to avoid the comments on the Argus website]

Bit of an update on this for anyone interested.

I’ve seen a figure of £300,000 quoted as being the repair/upgrade estimate.

With the cuts the council is proposing to children’s services alone for the next year I can’t see them agreeing to fund this so hopefully there’s other avenues available.

Anyway, there’s a ‘protest’ ride at the track on Saturday at 11am details on this page: https://www.facebook.com/saveprestonparkcycletrack

Letters between the local MP and BC below;

Dear all,

I’ve contacted both Brighton and Hove City Council and British Cycling about the work needed to address the safety concerns at Preston Park Velodrome. I’ve now been told that it will cost around £300,000 to carry out the work needed. Whilst I don’t have any direct influence in the matter, I’m asking for more information about funding avenues that might be pursued to bring the track back up to competitive racing standard, and I hope that it will be possible to identify a way forward soon.

I’ve copied below the response I’ve received from John Mills at British Cycling, which sets out the work needed to bring the track up to standard.

I hope the event this Saturday goes well, and helps to show how valued the track is within both the local and cycling communities.

Best wishes,
Caroline
___________________________________

Dear Caroline,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding Brighton Velodrome.

British Cycling has visited the track a number of times recently following concerns raised by user groups, predominantly related to the state of the perimeter fence. The fence was in a state of dilapidation and despite the best efforts of the Council to remedy the situation through an interim repair the facility still doesn’t meet modern safety standards.

Whilst ongoing maintenance is the responsibility of Brighton and Hove Council as owners of the facility, British Cycling have been working with the Council to establish exactly what is required. To this end British Cycling have employed, at its own cost, a company called Abacus (a Sport England Framework Partner) to undertake a condition survey of the velodrome. Abacus visited the velodrome in early February and provided a report last week, which recommends that the perimeter fence be completely replaced with a new fence that meets modern safety standards. The cost of the work is estimated to be in the region of £300k and Robert Walker of Brighton and Hove Council has been informed and has been sent a copy of the report.

With regards to grant aid, British Cycling’s Whole Sport Plan Capital Award was allocated for the development of 33 new traffic-free cycle sport facilities, as opposed to the maintenance of existing facilities, which as described above is the responsibility of the owner/operator. This doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be prepared to consider a maintenance project, particularly for a very well used existing facility such as Brighton, this would however impact on the number of new facilities we were able to build and would therefore have to be approved by Sport England and the British Cycling Board. Regardless of the nature of the project (new build or refurbishment) we would also require a minimum of 50% match funding.

With regards to funding available from within the Council, we have spoken to Robert Walker who has mentioned the possibility of accessing Section 106 and/or local car parking money. If however you are aware of any other funding which may be available locally please feel free to let us know.

I hope this update is helpful but if you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me again. In the meantime we will continue to work with Robert Walker at the Council to try and find a satisfactory solution.

Kind regards,

John