New cycle track plan for children in Mansfield gets major cash boost

A £9,547 grant from British Cycling’s Places to Ride programme will go halfway towards the £19,000 track next to a proposed new children's play area off Egmanton Road on the town’s Bellamy Road estate.

The remaining 50 per cent will be funded by Mansfield District Council through EEM Ltd – a not-for-profit procurement consortium, of which the authority is a partner.

Council chiefs say as part of its service, EEM accumulates a pot of money which is shared out among partners for community projects.

The cycling project will form part of a £5.7m proposed redevelopment of the heart of the estate which will involve demolishing a row of flats and shops on Egmanton Road and replacing them with 22 family homes built round a ‘village green’ with a new play area and community orchard.

Work on the track should start by the end of the year and the council is expecting it will be up and wheels spinning by April next year.

As well as the track, there will also be council-owned bikes available from nearby South Mansfield Community Centre which families can loan while using the track.

The facility will target children aged two to eight to learn to cycle in a safe, traffic-free environment and has been devised after consulting with residents about how it could best help families in the neighbourhood.

Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams said the track will be a ‘fantastic boost’ for youngsters in the town and he hopes it will encourage more families to get ‘physically active’.

"Cycling is a superb way to get fit and get around in a way that is also kinder to the environment. We would like to see many more people taking to two wheels across the district in the years to come,” he said.

"This project and the wider Community Heart of Bellamy redevelopment will enhance the quality of life and wellbeing of residents and help to create a positive, cleaner and greener image of Mansfield district.

"The building of the track, we hope, will also create work, training and supply chain opportunities for local people and businesses, particular those in the Bellamy Road area."

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