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To: Didcot Town Council

Didcot Mountain Bike Park

We would like Didcot Town Council to approve, fund and build a mountain bike park in Didcot for the use of the mountain bike community, of all ages and abilities.

Why is this important?

Didcot's population has grown rapidly due to the creation of three significant housing developments. Along with local infrastructure considerations there needs to be provision of leisure facilities. Didcot has a vibrant mountain bike community thanks largely to its proximity to the Ridgeway. While this offers miles and miles of bridleway to improve ones fitness those looking to develop other bike skills need to look much further afield, often involving a drive, an option not available to the younger generation. The physical and mental benefits of any sport are well defined and mountain biking is certainly no different. Furthermore by providing enhanced leisure facilities we may be able to discourage anti social behaviour in the community. I believe a mountain bike park in Didcot would promote the town in a positive way, in line with the objectives of the garden town plan and promote physical and mental health in our local community.

Didcot OX11, UK

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Updates

2024-01-31 21:48:35 +0000

Hi all, please see a post on the Facebook page in relation to some possible dirt jumps in Blewbury

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077031347003

2022-01-10 15:37:22 +0000

I need to now try and get the word out there and raise the overall profile of the bike park - I may need to demonstrate in future that there is a real need for this bike park. This petition goes some way to show that but an active Facebook page will help. It would be particularly great if those local to Didcot could get on the page. It's great that this idea has got support from further afield but the councillors will want to know there is a more local need and that the park will have a core of more frequent local users.

2022-01-10 15:37:13 +0000

Hi all, it dawned on me that although I set up a Facebook account for the bike park I never set up a dedicated page! I came off facebook a few years ago for personal reasons so I'm trying to remember how it all works! The location of the new page is here https://www.facebook.com/Didcot-Bike-Park-108503815050761. It would be great if as many people as possible that have signed the petition could like the page, share it etc etc. I am now putting all updates on this Facebook page so make sure you follow it to stay up to date. There is an update on there from this weekend ;)

2021-10-30 10:42:00 +0100

Hi folks, small update for you. As you can imagine these things move slowly but I met with David Johnston recently who is keen on the idea and helping with enquiries into a potential site I have in mind. Councillors from the neighbouring Parish are keen too, which is helpful as they own some of the land around here. We're meeting soon to discuss. So not much to say but I am beavering away at it in the background.

In the mean time I have finally set a Facebook page up for the bike park, to use primarily as a blog but to also get the name out there a bit. Feel free to look it up, add it, share it etc. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074081574730

2021-08-01 09:10:16 +0100

Please continue to share the petiton on your socials - lets see if we can hit the 1500 milestone and beyond! For now, stay safe and keep riding!

2021-08-01 09:09:15 +0100

Hi everyone, I thought I'd write a quick update on the project. I presented the idea to the Finance and General Purpose meeting on Monday. To date, I still haven't had any feedback from the Council so my objective was to just get approval. A number of Councillors were interested and engaged in some discussion which was nice, however it was made clear that the issue of land is going to be a major challenge (too many greedy developers with deep pockets). However, they like the idea and 2 Councillors have contacted me since with ideas and strategies about how to progress the idea. So overall it was positive as I have caught the attention of a few Councillors and I now have more lines of enquiry to investigate. There is still a long way to go and many hurdles this idea can fall at but the idea is still alive at the moment and I will continue to give it my all until the idea is dead!

2021-05-25 15:49:23 +0100

Hi all, just a brief update - the Town Clerk has identified a site and is working to secure the site. There's lots to be done before the site is secured but many of the parties involved are interested. In the mean time the idea is going to another committee meeting on June 21st for discussion. While I'm here, how many of those that signed would be prepared to join a volunteer group? If it came to it and the only way I could get this approved was to build it with a team of volunteers how many would be willing? Message me via the petition or comment here to let me know. No personal details being kept, just a tally.

2021-03-04 12:37:17 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2021-02-22 09:23:46 +0000

Hi everyone, I've been invited to present the petition next Monday at a council meeting. Thank you so much for your support so far. Please do keep sharing around and let's try and present as many signatures as possible!

2021-02-18 22:09:40 +0000

500 signatures reached

2021-02-16 21:50:47 +0000

100 signatures reached

2021-02-16 10:18:57 +0000

50 signatures reached

2021-02-14 11:19:40 +0000

25 signatures reached

2021-02-14 09:16:04 +0000

10 signatures reached