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Park site agreed for pump track

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By Newsdesk
Moffat
Park site agreed for pump track

PLANS for a £150,000 pump track in Moffat have taken another big leap forward.

Councillors last week agreed in principle to its installation in Hope Johnstone Park.

An eight week public consultation will now require to be held, while planning permission is in the process of being obtained.

Pump tracks are designed to help users learn good bike control and the Moffat project will consist of a narrow-looped path with a series of undulating and banked curves.

Meanwhile, for beginners, there will be flat sections to encourage people to take up cycling.

Academy pupils have helped design it and the track will be a facility for the communities of Moffat and Beattock and will be freely accessible to everyone.

It will be constructed using all weather, low maintenance, long lasting asphalt and will measure 1700 square metres.

Windfarm funding has been pledged and a £50k bid is in with SportsScotland, while The Holywood Trust has agreed to give £25,000.

The scheme has the backing of the school headteacher Tara Woods, who wrote to the council expressing her support, as well as members of Moffat and District Community Council. Several community councillors have visited a similar track at Hawick and reported that it has made “a remarkable contribution to the health and well-being of young people there.”

At last Wednesday’s Annandale and Eskdale area committee, community assets manager Nicola Simpson told members: “Once the pump track has been installed, it is proposed that it shall become acouncil asset but that a community user group will be responsible for maintaining and up-keeping the development.

“Overall it is anticipated that the addition of a pump track within Hope Johnstone Park will not adversely affect other users of the park as it would be confined to the small area at the bottom of the park which allows the majority of the space to still be used for community events as is the case currently.

“The facility will also attract visitors to the town and as a result will boost the local economy.”

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