How to create a Bike Park

Absolutely. It's something I dream of doing if things ever lined up.

I'm in awe of anyone who has the patience and determination to get anything like this done.

A friend started campaigning for a proper skatepark to replace the shoddy token gesture ramps that the council dumped in the park. It became damn near a full time job for him! Finished up with an amazing concrete park which will hopefully stand the test of time

It seems incredibly difficult. Over in Bath they were trying to get one up and running on an old golf course (a bit like Leeds’ urban bike park) and Pedal Progression won a tender and did inital studies and plans - but eventually it got vetoed and so nothing has happened with the site. Would have been a nice little bike park for kids development and for adults to play on.

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I will think how to structure it but start with 2 bits of advice that really help.

1) Stop dreaming about it and get started doing it.
2) No is not an answer, it is the start of a negotiation. find out why they are saying no and any other objections and then either remove or counter them.

I think there might have been limitations on income streams for the bath one that made it uneconomical - maybe they couldn’t charge for people to get in and there were car parking issues. So just leaving a cafe / bike shop as the sole income stream from what I could make out.

Think the Bath one died a death due to council cutbacks and the grants that Pedal Progression were getting not being enough, Covid and everything else didn't help, doubt it'll be turned into much, the usual Bath route will be selling off part for housing, then the rest will turn into a park

Planning a Bike Park Part 1

Be Ambitious but not Stupid.

If you live in the flatlands of Lincolnshire then don’t try and build a Fort Bill style DH course. If you live in an inner city area then don’t try and build a Surry Hills network of leafy trails.

If you want a simple Pump Track then ask for a big and exciting one. The requests will only get watered down, de-scoped and reduced so if you ask for the simple thing you will be lucky to get more than a post to lock your bike to.

Plan but don’t prevaricate

1 weeks proper planning can save 6 months of wasted effort when the site is granted planning permission and your bike park becomes a Science Park as was notified in the local Planning Office when you started.

If you wait until everything is perfect with all of the land, the funding, the design, the builder and the on-site cafe are lined up then nothing will ever happen.

Work out what is the minimum you need is and make that step 1 of the plan. Get the rest of the things that need doing in a roughly prioritised order with any dependencies clearly marked - build the drains before the track over the drains.

Now do step 1. Not next week, now!
Done that? Check the list and is the priority the same or has something happened to change the next step? What ever the next step is, do it now. Not next week, now! By the way, can you do several things on the priority list in parallel? Do that too, now!

Planning a Bike Park Part 2

What goes on the Planning Priority List?

1 Find some Land
2 Make a simple to understand explanation of what you want to do
3 Get permission from the land owner
4 Explain the plan to council or locals or whoever you suspect will object.
5 Prepare the formal proposal using the right words and phrases
6 Set an ambitious timeline and challenge EVERY delay
7 Build it.
8 Ride it.

If anyone thinks of anything else then please let me know and I will try to cover that too.

1 - Find Some Land
We are prisoners to reality so you will need some land to use. Council owned land has benefits in that you can try to Make them maintain their liability for general maintenance and insurance, at least at the start of the project. Farmers can be very helpful but also some aren’t. It is the land owners prerogative and you cannot force them to let you do it, just because you want to. Another good thing about Council land is that they do need to explain WHY they have refused you permission but I will cover this is section 3.

Can’t find anywhere suitable? Look harder, expand your search, use Google maps or google earth of SingletrackWorld. Just find the land and make sure it is basically the right thing for what you want to do. Don’t build a DH track on a disused cricket pitch and don’t build a pump track on the side of a disused quarry. If the land is basically okay but not perfect for what you want then that is great, you can improve it.

If you are approaching the council, find option 2 for a location. Make sure there are some very good reasons why it is not acceptable as you want this to be rejected. This is covered in section 3 as well.

Go and look at the land properly. Walk around it, not just ride. Look for drain covers meaning there is stuff underneath you need to consider. Look for overhead cables. Look for access points. Look for nearby parking. Look for signs of other users and note them as probably in favour or probably against. Talk to anyone you see to explain what you want, ask their thoughts and also find out what they are doing there. It is very useful to get the details for people already using ‘your’ land.

If it is still suitable then check as many planning maps, gas pipeline maps, plague pit maps - basically anything you can find out about the site that might help you. Used to be a municipal dump? Unlikely to want to build houses on top of it etc

Still happy with it? Get the rough size and work out how what you want to do will fit into it. If it will be a shared use site then work out how you will co-exist with others and how you can work for mutual shared benefits - car parks & coffee shops?

2 Make a simple to understand explanation of what you want to do

Sounds simple?

Imagine you are walking past me at the proposed site and I ask what you are doing there. You have one sentence to tell me what you plan to do and make me feel positive about it when I walk away.

Now I walk back and ask you to tell me a bit more. You have 2 minutes to sell me the dream. Prepare 2 versions, one where I can back and said "Sounds great, tell me more" and one when I come back and say "Did you really say that you cretinous death vandal?". You will probably face both situations, I did, and you musty have the correct answers ready.

Now you have your first 5 minute chat with the Council Rep / Land Owner who seems curious but positive. What do you say? What are the key 3 points? What MUST they remember? Now do the same when they are fascist red socks who's mothers were killed by cyclists.

That is five separate and very different 'simple explanations'. Now do another 5, same rules but different ways of replying. Now another 5. This way you won't sound too repetitive and dull when you keep facing the same situations time after time after time....

Here endeth today's lesson.

Questions?

Additional stuff you want covered in later dull monologues?

Who funds it or is the idea to get the council to think it’s a good idea for the community and so they do?

You’re a very interesting person, WCA

Not that you were looking for advice, but… There is a wood in Southampton on a hillside that used to have trails. I always thought that that would be a good spot for an official bike park. Lordswood, or similar.

Who funds it? - Depends on what you are planning but basically it starts off with you funding it, at least as far as we have got so far. I will add section 5.5 on possible funding sources though.

Lordswood - I originally tried to get the whole of Lordswood to turn into a bike park in 2008 but it is privately owned and the family who own it are restricting what can be done there. I started work with the Forestry Commission building a few trails and general trail maintenance but got a 'cease and desist' from the Forestry Commission HQ when they heard about it as it goes against the terms of their lease. As I understand it, not hard fats so rumour only, they family also own Hut Wood near Chilworth and want permission to build a load of £1M+ houses there in exchange for giving Lordswood to Southampton. The problem is that Hut Wood is not in Southampton Councils area so they won't get enough benefit to make it worth their while. Only gossip so I may be wrong.

Interesting Person - I think that is a compliment, so thank you.

I think that is a compliment, so thank you.

very much and you’re welcome.

Lordswood could be an MTB gem in that area.

You're a community asset mate and can potentially enrich the lives of so many people. Great work.

One of my local bike parks has an interesting history with someone like yourself really driving it.

2012 a local fireman goes off to Whistler on holiday (or job swap?). Comes home and decided he had so much fun mountain biking he wants something similar. There's a decent sized urban woodland near work and home slated to eventually have a rail line built through it, so he just set about building it with mates. Put an astonishing amount of work into it.

It gets a bit popular and parking starts to be an issue, so he approached Council and asks if people can park on the gravel depot at the top of the hill. They agree to unlock the gate in daylight hours. Next he convinces them it can be a dedicated parking area... then he gets a couple of containers on site for tools ets. We start coaching kids (aged 3-16) basic skills on the gravel.

Then he puts in a bid for a grant. Council start to take notice. They do a risk assessment on the wooden obstacles (there's a lot of them), and allow them to stay, with some modifications.

Council realise it's a great tourism opportunity, so end up pouring millions into it. It's become an incredible community asset attracting people from all over. The sheer number of kids sessioning jumps and flow trails is so heart warming.

We've still got all the original trails, but also some machine built trails, unique features, a floodlit pump track, BBQs, toilets, shower, cafe, regular maintenance.

And the route for the proposed train line now goes underneath the MTB park!

https://www.trailforks.com/region/sugarbag-road-12396/

ORGANISEDGRIME.COM.AU "https://organisedgrime.com.au/MTB6SugarBag.pdf"

1 Move to Scotland

2 Build trails on Forestry Land

3 Goto 2

intheborders - That would be ideal, apart from the move to Scotland bit. I guess it falls under the first point in Planning a Bike Park - Part 1 - Be Ambitious but not Stupid.

I was looking through my old stuff to see if there was anything relevant to this thread and found an early 'Grand Pla'

Objective
Increase the cycling participation and opportunities within Southampton to take people from their first ride to the highest levels of the sport.

Approach
Create free to access facilities open to all people that allow them the opportunity to try, develop and finesse their chosen discipline.
Use the venues and facilities to hold significant competitions attracting top riders to inspire people and attract more people.

Roadmap
Southampton Bike Park
Free mixed ability jump and stunt trails to allow anyone to try at any level and at any time.
Graduated stunts from simple beginner level up to a professional standard.
Dual slalom to allow competitive racing both informal and formally organised competitions

Southampton Pump Track
Free large pump/skate/scooter park tarmaced to allow all users to try all disciplines and develop their skills accordingly that raises the level from the existing skate/pump tracks available in Southampton.
Specific stunts for the different user groups where required but fully integrated to maximise the use as a whole.
Pump track long enough and of high enough quality to host national and international events to bring the British Pump Track Series and other prestige events to Southampton.

Southampton 4X Track
Dirt surfaced 4cross track with proper start gates and rams available
Used for hosting national and local events
Training and rider progression programmes organised through an associate club

Southampton Cyclo-cross (CX) Circuit
A series of permanent CX features (Steep climbs, Sand traps, Log obstacles, Impossible stairs.) placed so that they can be trained on and used individually and also linked to form a race circuit capable of hosting national and international races.
Routing the CX trail for maximum participant and spectator benefit as well as highlighting the other cycling facilities available whilst hosting the events.

Southampton Freeride Zone
A technically challenging and stunt rich zone on steep terrain with natural obstacles such as trees and drops but also with added tricks such as balance beams and see-saws.
This will require riders to be of a certain skill level before attempting the trails, however this can be assessed on the Pump track and Bike Park area.
The obvious location would be alongside the existing ski slope which has the added advantage that any administration or safety checks can be performed within the existing facilities with the existing resources.

Southampton Activity Park
Turn the woodlands of Lordswood into a large multi-activity managed park with all levels of cycling catered for, encouraged and predominantly free to use.
Family cycling routes of mixed lengths with linked sections to allow much variety for repeat visits.
Gravel trails along the existing fire roads and cross country trails with lightly armoured features to minimise surface damage and erosion where heavy use is likely.
Monitored and maintained ‘free dig’ areas to allow riders to build their own jumps and stunts. They will anyway so let’s embrace it.
Northshore style stunt area at ground level for free practice with possible a controlled access area for more extreme stunts that are larger that the Southampton Freeride Zone can cater for.

Target Customers
All existing cyclists with the possible exception of pure road cyclists.
All people who want to try cycling but are unsure what they might enjoy.
All cyclists who wish to become sponsored or professional riders in any of the disciplines offered.
All families of the above who want to see those people enjoy themselves and develop their skills.
Trainers, coaches, sports clubs, fitness classes, bike shops and others wanting a world class facility for their offerings.
Social Media producers and consumers

Objective 1 completed
Objective 2 & 3 in progress
Object 4 & 5 being socialised with the council and British Cycling to soften them up to the idea
Objective 6 = Lordswood. Always worth having something unachievable in your plans so if you have to reduce you scope to please someone else, you have an obvious candidate option to drop.

Landowner permissions is the one thing I'm struggling with, but mainly because we have a network of trails across a range of landowners - NRW are being the most engaged, but others just won't engage and some are proving difficult to even contact.

Our plan at the moment is to push through with NRW to set a precedent and then we can see if other landowners will adopt the same frameworks.

Any tips you could share of engaging absent landowners?

Any tips you could share of engaging absent landowners? - Die of frustration?

This is what happened to me when I tried to get the trails at Lordswood:

- No response for 6 months of requests.
- No response for 3 months of detailed plans.
- No response for 3 months of build updates.
- The Forestry Commision HQ up in Scotland receive a 'cease and desist' letter from the land owners solicitors

The first I knew about it was when I turned up to a dig day with the local FC guy and he looked bemused.After 12 months of working together on this will lots of communication between him and his bosses and all the relevant local people he had been told he had to remove everything that had been built and revert to original condition. No explanation, no route for discussion, no choice.

I really don't know what I could have done differently so I cannot really advise but if you can get the Rights of Way people involved then I would suggest that is a good direction to take. They have probably got the more experienced people to pursue it.

I haven't given up on Lordswood yet, but I need so more weight behind my challenge which hopefully the SBP, 4Cross, Pump Track, CX and Freeride area will give me.

Cafeside MTB | Exeter | Facebook

These guys local to me are in progress of trying to do the same down here!

Been 'unofficial' with Forestry for years but they're now trying to expand it

I can't even start to imagine the pain of dealing with the local authorities for something like this, even if it were on private land let alone council owned land.

3 Get permission from the land owner

This can be a difficult and time consuming process but is essential before you go any further. Without their official permission you are doing nothing more than building awesome unauthorised trails up the woods, just like we all have in the past. An unofficial agreement or a nodding smile isn’t worth the paper it is written on. It is absolutely fine to have a casual agreement with the landowner if you just want to build a few trails or ride in their woods but you can’t really get funding and have no future security without the formal agreement. If you have been riding there happily for years then it can be a bit awkward to ask to be allowed to ride there but just do it.

I can only describe my three experiences dealing with councils. The first two were with the same council and were painful, drawn out and everything you imagine. The latest 4cross park was with a different council and a totally different experience. I will describe that first as it is quick and easy. I will put the two times I dealt with Southampton in a separate post on this thread as it was a bit longer and more convoluted.

The positive Council
I went on the Eastleigh Council website to see who might be good to contact initially. It took a bit of googling but I found half a dozen people in roles that might be relevant. I can’t remember the exact list but it was something like Open Spaces, Sports and Leisure, Community development, Planning…

I then got their mission statement “Central to the delivery of the role is the Council's mission statement and commitment to 'Supporting Communities, Improving Lives. ‘ “ and declared strategy “The Corporate Plan Three-Year Action Plan is the detailed roadmap that sets out our vision to lead and support Eastleigh Borough and its communities under four priority themes: Enabling a Healthier Eastleigh, Shaping Places, Protecting our Environment, and Creating Homes and Communities.” .

I then sent a short, simple email stating what I wanted to do (you did write those statements earlier didn’t you?) to all the council people I had identified making sure I modified my prepared descriptions to align exactly with the mission statement and strategy.

I got an email back about a week later from the “People & Communities ‑ Local Area Managers” person I emailed saying it sounded fantastic and could we meet there to discuss it. I was more than a little shocked but arranged the meeting. I explained what we wanted to do immediately - clear the grass off the track, rebuild the damaged jumps, get the start gates working and make the existing track rideable again - and that my long term vision of a club based there, local and national events etc. He said it was a great idea but said there was no money available. I said that wasn;t a problem for the first stage as I would personally pay for everything*. This was his turn to be shocked. He immediately said the council would get the grass and weeds on the track sprayed and start looking for the gate release ram mechanism. He also asked me to present this idea via Zoom to the 10-12 council members for their approval. This happened a week or two later and when I said that I was paying for it, providing all of the labour and would return in to a rideable state by Easter 2024 they were all smiling and I got formal approval the very next day.

*I said I would personally pay for everything!!! Stop and think about what I am paying for. They were spraying the weeds. They were sorting the gate mechanism. I was getting friends and volunteers to dig some dirt from the side of the track to repair the jumps and do a bit of shaping work. It gost be 24 donuts and 12 cans of fizzy drink.

I am meeting Guy, and the project manager he allocated, on Wednesday of this week to discuss progress and next steps. I will be asking where their gate mechanism is and if they can’t find it, when will they be supplying the replacement. I will be asking for secure storage for our tools and the gate mechanism when they find it. I will explain the track is now repaired and rideable as I promised but that we will continue to refine and improve it over the next month. I will explain that the open day races are at Easter so they need to get the start gate ramps sorted urgently so as not to break their promises and disappoint the little children.

I will let you know how that goes.

The Less Positive Council

I went on the Southampton Council website to see who might be good to contact initially. It took a bit of googling but I found half a dozen people in roles that might be relevant …I got their mission statement ….I then sent a short, simple email stating what I wanted to do to all the council people I had identified. I repeated this 2 weeks later having heard nothing. I approached the people in the SPorts Centre where I wanted to build the Bike PArk and they said that they worked for Active Nation, a charity that runs sports facilities for councils, so it was nothing to do with them. I repeated the emails and then knocked on the door of three of the people I was emailing at the council explaining that I was sorry to disturb them but that their email didn’t seem to work and gave them a paper print out of the email. The next day I got about 6 email replies all saying it was nothing to do with them, there was nothing they could do and it was all run by Active Nation. To be fair, they were nicely worded and one person showed a slight interest as his house backs onto the Sports Centre.

I went back to the local boss of Active Nation when he was actually at the Sport Centre (asked wone of the workers when he would be there) and explained that the council had told me that this was his responsibility and that I should deal directly with him. I explained what I wanted to do and how it aligned with the Active Nation manifesto etc. He said he was all in favour but could do nothing as the council owned the land.

I emailed the councillor who lived nearby and politely explained that I had spoken to Active Nation as he had suggested
And they were in favour of it. Please could he just confirm for the record that it was okay for me to start digging the following Monday. If I didn’t hear back then I would assume all was well and start the work anyway. I got a very quick response asking for a meeting.

We met and he did actually listen to what I was saying. He asked if there was a real demand for this kind of thing. I explained that there was and he asked for proof. I suggested a 500 signature petition might be suitable which he agreed. I created one from my phone while on his drive before leaving and posted on STW and other places to get support. I sent him the list of over 500 people about 3 days later. He agreed to take it forward to the council where it was rejected on grounds of cost, maintenance, viability and environmental impact.

I commited to fully fund the first stage personally. I got a letter from Southampton University Mountain Bike Club committing to assisting with the maintenance as an ongoing project, I showed that with zero CapEx and zero OpEX with 500 people in favour it was completely viable. I explained that all materials used would be site sourced and the only area affected was an unused plain grass hill. It went back to the council and they agreed that all of their previous reasons for rejection were wrong so found 4 more reasons. I showed they were wrong. This happened for 3 of their monthly meetings from memory before they gave up trying to reject it and agreed to put it out for public consultation. About 3 months and four or five public meetings where I found mostly hostile audiences asking questions like “how will you stop them riding on the pavements?” and “forget bikes, what are you going to do about the bin collections”. Finally gout through that and we were told we could proceed with the bike park…

…as far as the planning department. After about a month of discussion I found out, possibly on STW, that if the construction of the bike park is simply moving dirt and does not include any wood or concrete then it does not need planning permission. I then was directed to the work department where I was told that I couldn’t use machinery without all the appropriate licences, permits, build regs…. I think it took 3 meetings before they finally heard me say “It will be entirely hand dug with no use of machines”.

We are 11 months down the line now and running out of people in the council with whom to battle. The final hurdle was one guy who said that we couldn’t start the dig until he decided we could. No reason, no facts, no forms and as far as I could tell no authority other than he was the one that the other people at the Sports Centre were afraid of. I heard that he was going to work on the London Olympics and was having his leaving drinks on the Thursday before the long Easter weekend. At 4:55 I sent an email basically saying that I haven’t heard any objection recently from him so I will assume it is good to start digging on Good Friday. He didn’t reply and by Easter Monday there was most of the first track marked out and turf piles for a couple more. Sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than await permnission.