Questions and answers about the proposed Mountain Bike park

This page contains some of the facts that we’ve gathered in our discussions with BANES and with Pedal Progression Ltd. We’ll add to this as we find out more, so please check back from time to time for the latest information. Significant new information will be added in italics, so that you can find it easily. See new information on 'what is a pump track' below. We are trying to create a resource of factual information here, reporting what we know as clearly as possible. We will make changes to the text from time to time as our understanding of the project grows. We have recently rewritten the section below on 'How is it being funded?' to try to make the finding arrangements clear and transparent.

We have recently added a plan of the concept for the bike park here, with a key showing the various features. There are also some pictures from another urban bike park to show what this might all look like.

This website also includes a Blog page which you can find from the main menu bar at the top of this page. This is a space for residents to express their opinions on what is happening in and around Entry Hill, through short written articles. Here you will find some personal opinions about the Mountain Bike Park proposals, send to us by local residents. They are not necessarily the views of the Entry Hill Community Association.

What do we know about the proposals for the Entry Hill site?

The plan is to develop and operate an urban Mountain Bike park on the golf course site. The concept plan that has been published gives an indication of what is proposed. Until Council-led survey work is completed on the site, it will not be possible to draw up an accurate plan to establish what Bath Bike Park is going to look like. The survey work is particularly important because the site was originally a series of landfill dumps and is contaminated in places. So, the facilities must be carefully planned around this. (We know that this plan is not accurate as part of the development currently extends over the garden of an adjacent property.)

Updates:

June 2021 we were told by officers from BANES that the desk-based work is complete and that survey work will start on the site itself, with test holes being dug later this month.

October 2021: BATHNES expect results of the contaminated land survey are in the 3rd week of October.

November 2021: The initial results from the contaminated land survey have recommended that no excavation can be undertaken on the site and the bike trails will need to be constructed by bringing in material to build up, rather than digging down.

February 2022: A revised site plan has been published showing the latest proposals, based on the results of the contaminated land survey and the provisional transport study. This will form the basis for the some more limited consultation work with an additional survey. EHCA are concerned that many people will miss this opportunity to express their opinions due to the poor design of the survey process. In addition, the revised concept plan still fails to show the position of the properties bordering the site; or the existing trees and woodland margins. The revised concept will form the basis for the planning application which will be submitted around June 2022. The Bath Bike Park is now expected to open in 2023.

The concept plan currently shows eight downhill bike tracks, of varying levels of difficulty, graded from green to black. There will also be a pump track, a jump track, and upskilling area. These will be part of a the ‘pay-to-ride’ bike park. There will be individual and family admission and the cost will be broadly the same as bike parks elsewhere (around £24 for a family admission). The operator will offer bikes for hire to people who do not have their own. They will also provide training and coaching services to enable riders to develop their skills.

The construction of the bike track and associated bike hire and repair facilities, with the necessary fencing, new cafe etc will be a substantial building project. We don't yet know how much excavation will be necessary or possible on this contaminated site; or how much material might need to be bought onto the site to build up the various jumps etc which will form part of the mountain bike trails.

The concept plan also shows a natural-style play park, learn-to-ride cycle space, picnic area, pond, community garden and allotments. The proposals include a new, larger café and space for local residents to walk, ride bikes and enjoy the views over Bath. There will be secure fencing to separate the pay-to-ride trails from the remainder of the site.

BANES assure us that the cafe, play area and allotments will be part of the development. The operators have described their aspiration to further develop and enhance commmunity facilities over time by enlisting the support of volunteers, crowd funding in the community and from the profits generated by the ‘pay-to-ride’ bike trails.

Updates

July 21: What is a pump track and why ride one?

This is taken from Pedal Progression's description of a pump track, together with a video from the bike park designers, Architrail VeoSolutions UK.

A pump track is a manmade loop made of stone or asphalt. It is made up of rollers (whoopy up and downs) and berms (banked corners) which can be pumped and sometimes jumped. Pumping using up and down movements to power a bike, instead of pedalling. On mountain bike trails, it helps a rider to save the energy in the legs and can be used in areas that are too technical for a rider to pedal the bike. Riders who have a good technique can get all the way around a pump track without pedalling at all, or even braking. Pump tracks are a great place to practise before taking skills out onto trails. They are also a lot of fun in their own right and asphalt tracks can be used by BMXers, skaters and roller blades. Here is a video of various pump tracks in action

November 2021. In response to our queries about potential additional costs of construction arising from the contaminated land survey, the Council advised us that they would be applying for grants to meet any addtional costs but might also need to modify the design to take account of the findings, the consultation and the results of other surveys underway.

February 2022: The revised plan for the site shows some changes to the positioning of the downhill tracks and removal of the jump track. This will be replaced with a smaller area outside of the pay-to-ride, for young riders with scooters and balance bikes.

Who is behind the project?

The operator of the site will be a small Bristol-based business called Pedal Progression Ltd. They describe themselves as a skills coaching and mountain bike hire company based at the Ashton Court Estate in Bristol. They have led the work to maintain the existing free-to-ride bike trails at Ashton Court, working with volunteers to restore and rebuild them, now that Bristol City Council funding has run out. This is the page they have set up on their website for Bath Bike Park and you can watch a video where the founders of Pedal Progression explain what they hope to achieve in Bath www.pedalprogression.com/bbp-news/. There are several additional sections describing their aspirations for the Bath Bike Park. You can also find Pedal Progression on Facebook.

They acknowledge that they are currently a small business and have described their plans to bring in other experts to help them in the areas where they don’t currently have much experience. They already have a close working relationship with Architrail Velosolutions Ltd. who will provide the technical expertise in the design, development and maintenance of Mountain Bike trails. You can find out more about them here https://www.architrailvelosolutions.com/ and they are also on Facebook.

BANES will manage the project to develop the bike park, working in collaboration with Pedal Progression and Architrail Velosolutions. They will subsequently monitor the contract with Pedal Progression Ltd to operate Bath Bike Park. BANES will continue to own the site and be ultimately responsible for it.

Updates:

November 2021: We have been working hard to try to better understand the role of Architrail Velosolutions Ltd on the Bath Baike Park and their relationship with Pedal Progression Ltd. We have now learned from the Council that the two companies submitted a joint bid in response to the tender for the operation of the Bath Bike Park, with Pedal Progression as the lead organisation.

Architrail Velosolutions are the construction and maintenance partner as part of the bid, but are not there to operate the site. The Council's contract will be with Pedal Progression, but the Council will have approval over the contract between Pedal Progression and Architrail to ensure it meets the Council’s needs and requirements.

February 2022: In recent months we have gained a better understanding of the financing of the Bike Park proposals (more on this below) and we now understand that Pedal Progression will be making a contribution to the overall capital cost of the project.

How is it being funded?

The initial development of the site is being undertaken and largely funded by BATHNES Council. It has decided to invest around £440,000 of capital funding in the project, from funds it has available to support recreation in the Bath and North East Somerset area. There will be an additional £60,000 for the project, specifically provided for the development of allotments, by the Mulberry Park developers through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). BATHNES will also be making grant applications to other organisations such as British Cycling, Sport England etc. The bike park and the site within which it sits will remain the property of BATHNES and the capital expenditure is described as an investment to 'enhance the value' of the site.

Update:

November 2021 The following paragraph has been amended to reflect our current understanding of the mechanism for the funding of the Bath Bike Park, which follows a series of questions to and responses from the Council. We hope this gives a more accurate description of the process.

February 2022: Our understanding of the financing arrangements for the Bath Bike Park have increased in recent months. We now know that the expected cost of the development is around £1 million. As well as the £440,000 BATHNES Council have committed to the project, further funding will come from Pedal Progression, and from grants from external bodies (likely including Cycle England). We have amended the paragraphs below to give a better description of the nature of the funding arrangements and how the Council contribution will be recouped over the life of the project, with interest.

BANES intend that their capital investment in Bath Bike Park (described above) will be recovered over the life of the project. The Bath Bike Park operators (Pedal Progressions Ltd) will have a contract with the Council to operate the Bath Bike Park. The terms of the contract will ensure that the full cost of capital and interest at 5% are recovered by the Council over the life of the agreement. There will be a lease, but it is the contract terms that will be used to ensure the investment is recovered. The operators will also be expected to make a contribution to the capital development of the site. The Council's investment in the bike park is not a loan to the operator - they are contracted to maintain and operate and maintain the site but will never 'own' it. They are not therefore required to 'repay' the capital invested in developing the Bath Bike Park and they are not receiving a loan or a grant from the Council. The Council will recoved their financial input through the contract charges paid by the operator.

BANES have also undertaken to invest in free-to-access community spaces, including a play park and picnic area, accessible perimeter pathways, community growing spaces and enhanced planting and wildlife areas. The cost of maintaining and operating these areas will have to be found from the operating surplus of the 'pay-to-ride' bike facility as the Council are very clear that there is no revenue funding to support the day-to-day costs of running the site.

The intention is that the project will be self-financing, generating enough income from the pay-to-ride bike trails, bike hire and training and the café to maintain the site and the free facilities. The details of the contract are still under negotiation. At this stage, it is unclear whether BANES expect to provide revenue support to help this project to 'get-off the ground', until it gets to the stage where it is making enough money to be independent; or what will happen if it can’t do this. We are concerned about the financial risks associated with the project. We have asked for examples of similar projects running successfully elsewhere, but these have not been provided.

Until the survey work is complete and final plans are drawn up, it is not possible to know what it is likely to cost to build the bike park. Other issues might emerge during the planning process, including steps to mitigate the impact on nearby homes and these may further increase the costs.

What do we know about the community facilities?

The concept plan includes free-to-access community spaces, including a play park and picnic area, accessible perimeter pathways, allotments, community growing spaces and enhanced planting and wildlife areas. These all have to be fitted into the areas outside the fenced-off bike tracks, which occupy much of the available space on the site.

The cost of maintaining and operating these areas will have to be found from the operating surplus of the 'pay-to-ride' bike facility as BATHNES are very clear that there is no revenue funding to support the day-to-day costs of running the site. Pedal Progression have mentioned trying to support these areas through 'crowd-funding' and warned that it might take some time to put this provision in place.

Update:

September 21: We met with Councillor Jess David and our ward councillors to discuss progress. We specifically raised the need to make the site more porous - to have more entry/exit point to improve access to the site for the local community. We also explained how keen we were to see the 'scholars' way' route across the site. She assured us that it was the Council's intention to improve the physical access to the site in the ways that we had described.

February 2022: The Council have now advised us that it is not possible to make a new entrance to the site from its north end - ie adjacent to the bridge, lower down Entry Hill. This is because of the difference in the levels between the site and the roadway. However, there will be two new pedestrian access points from the Wellsway into the site.

What is the timescale?

It is difficult to determine a clear timescale at the moment. Much depends on the outcome of the survey work, how much work is necessary to construct the trails and the planning permission process. However, at the moment we have been told that the intention is to begin preliminary discussions with the BANES planning department in late May/early June, with a full planning application being submitted in August/September. However, we understand there are already delays, due to the extent of the survey work necessary on the site.

The BANES Local Planning Authority will consider all aspects of the proposal, including the transport plan, ecological impact, impact on the neighbouring houses and so on. The planning application will be accompanied by a series of reports in these areas and it is likely to take some months to work through all of this.

Update: The Equalities Impact Assessment has however been completed and is available here.

Update: The results of other studies are expected around 18th October 2021.

Physical development of the site will follow, with a view to opening the bike trails in 2022. Pedal Progression hope to be able to open the café sooner if this is possible. The construction of proper Mountain Bike trails, available to ride all year, with adequate drainage and with necessary variety of challenges that riders expect, requires significant construction work.

BANES have started the process of consultation with residents and other interested parties, through a consultancy called Lemon Gazelle. They recognise that they need a variety of mechanisms for different groups with varying interests and concerns. So, local cycling enthusiasts would need to be treated be very differently to those residents whose homes directly border the site. Local councillors have also undertaken to talk to each of the residents whose homes border the site.

Update

Pedal Progression opened the cafe on a temporary basis during the summer of 2021 for people to find out more about the project and discuss their concerns, with events for children and families taking place during the holidays.

The results of the consultation process are due to be sent to the Council around 18th October, but we don't know when they will be made more widely available. We did register our strong concerns that the plans shown as part of the consultation process did not show the fence which will be build around the bike tracks; or make any mention of the fact that this will be a 'pay-to-ride' facility.

February 2022: The outcome of the consultation process and revised plans for the site have now been published; and a further limited consultation exercise has been launched. This will contribute to the final plan which will be submitted as part of the planning application - the expected date for this is June 2022. The new target date for opening the Bath Bike Park is Spring 2023, but this will depend upon the outcome of the planning process.

What will be the impact of traffic and parking around the site including on Entry Hill?

This is a major concern and we think that this part of the proposal needs considerable additional work. Unhelpful comparisons have been made with other Bath visitor attractions like Prior Park Gardens. However, travel to a bike park is more complex because families (especially those with younger children) may want to bring their own cycles; and because mountain biking can make people and their bikes very muddy in wet weather – so not very public transport friendly. Also, mountain bikes are not always equipped for road cycling.

The current access to the site, on the bend of Entry Hill is problematic and potentially dangerous. There will be no additional parking at the site. Existing parking will likely be reserved for the disabled and for families. Possible ‘park and cycle’ arrangements from Odd Down Park and Ride site have been suggested, but this leaves the issue of a lack of a safe cycling route for families from the Park and Ride site to Entry Hill. The option of using the parking available at Odd Down Sports Ground has also been mentioned. BANES have already explained that vehicle access from Wellsway cannot be supported on either highways or financial grounds, but there will be cycle and pedestrian access from Wellsway.

BANES must consider the transport options for the site - this is a planning requirement, and they are currently in the process of engaging a transport consultant to look at all of the options and help to develop a travel plan for the site.

During its first year, the Bath Bike Park expects to attract 25,000 visitors, with an average of 40 per day during the week and 140 per day at weekends. Numbers are expected to peak at 60 per day on weekdays and 200 per day at weekends. The operators expect to increase this number each year to reach around 50,000 visitors in time. BANES Council officers stated that they expected that 25% of the bike park visitors would cycle to the site - this means that 75% would arrive by car. This does not include other visitors coming to use the free facilities on the site, or riders being dropped off with their bikes from cars and vans. We have estimated that there could be up to 20,000 extra car journeys in Year 1 arising from the operation of the Bike Park.

For comparison, in recent years, attendance at the golf course had dropped to around 10,000 players per year - most of whom arrived by car. Even allowing for a proportion of people to cycle to the park, and for family groups arrive in one vehicle, there will clearly be a number of additional visitors arriving by car and this will grow over time.

Pedal Progression are confident that a higher proportion of their users will cycle to the new site on Entry Hill, based on their experience at Ashton Court. (We are sceptical about this, given the climb up the hills necessary to reach the park – certainly for families - and have told them so.) They also expect that BANES will use the Low Traffic Neighbourhood measures and new Residents Parking Zones to prevent parking adjacent to the site, which will force people to use alternative means to reach the site. We know that there is no certainty as to when, or even if, these measures will be put in place.

Updates:

November 2021: The results of the traffic survey and the inital report from transport consultants Entrans are now with the Council. We will add a link to these as soon as they are published.

February 2022: In reponse to widespread concern expressed during the consultation process, the revised plan for the site shows additional space for 'overflow' carparking. The plan also shows a 'drop-off zone' on the Wellsway with direct pedestrian access to the site to reduce the need for car to use Entry Hill.

Are there similar facilities in other cities?

This style of commercial bike-based facility appears to be an innovative approach and we are not aware of anything similar yet happening elsewhere. The hybrid approach of combining bike tracks with free facilities, open to a wider community, appears to be a relative novel proposal and as such, is untested, from a commercial point of view. Managing the (sometimes) conflicting needs of bikers and other users is a common issue that local authorities and other bodies have experience of. This site will bring these together in a close association however and there are likely to be new and different challenges. The cost of maintaining the community spaces will have to be generated from the income the pay-to-ride bike tracks generate.

There are some free-to-ride mountain bike trails in more urban areas (at Ashton Court in Bristol and Leeds Urban Bike Park . The former has been successful to some extent in using volunteer support to maintain the trails but both sites are struggling to fund the work necessary to keep the trails in good order. (This is why Bath Bike Park is planned as a pay-to-ride site.) Other sites can be found more locally at Tidworth; and at Warminster where the private, pay-to-ride WinHill mountain bike site offers a more ‘extreme’ experience. These are limited, in that they provide an offer just for mountain biking without the associated community facilities which are planned for Entry Hill.

Some of the pros and cons of a Bike Park

Most mountain bike trails are (unsurprisingly!) in undeveloped mountainous or hilly areas. Mountain Biking is often described as an adrenaline sport, where people get quite noisy and excited as they encounter various physical challenges. The trails will have to be fenced off to prevent unauthorised access and to protect both the trail bikes and other users of the site. There is obviously potential for significant noise and visual intrusion for residents living close by - over 50 homes directly border the site, with their gardens sharing a boundary. We are hoping that through careful design of the Bike Park, with new planting and screening, the impact will be mitigated. This will also require with good ongoing management of the operation of the bike park.

Pedal Progression describe their plans for Entry Hill as a ‘progression park’ in which people can grow the skills and confidence to enable them to start to tackle more ambitious tracks out in the mountains. In this way, it could provide an entry point to the relatively new, but growing, sport of mountain biking. They claim that there is evidence that building these skills and confidence also make riders safer and more confident road cyclists and encourages riders to use bikes more for commuting etc. It is also intended as a place where people can come just to have fun outdoors, even if they never plan to get out on to the mountains with their bikes.

Mountain biking is not currently a diverse sport, but appeals mainly to younger and middle-aged people, mostly men. Minority ethnic groups are under represented. The cost of bikes and other equipment can be too high for many people. Pedal Progression Ltd are well aware of this and say that they are keen to improve the diversity of the sport. They will offer bikes for hire, as well as individual and group coaching. Their website describes their plans to work with community groups to bring a wider cross section of riders into Bath Bike Park. BANES council officers statd that they will expect to see real progress on this as part of the contractural conditions to support delivery of their aim to see 'More People, More Active, More Often' and that the operation of the Bath Bike Park will be monitored to make sure this is happening.

Update: In early June, Pedal Progression put out a social media post asking for women and members of the BAME community who were confident riders to come along to their Bristol bike trails for a photoshoot and offering gift vouchers in return for this. They explained that their PR material lacked images of these groups enjoying mountain biking.

Were other sites considered as the location for a Bath Bike Park?

We specifically asked the BANES Council officers involved whether they had considered other sites for a Bath Bike Park, and particularly whether it might have been more suitable to develop a Bike Park on the Approach site. They said that they had not considered other sites and that in the tender exercise, the Approach had been listed as only available for golf related activity. (The Council report in July 2020, at the time where the formal decision was made to go out to tender for an operator for both sites explained that other uses could be considered for Entry Hill as golf would remain in some form at Approach.)

Our main concerns

When it became clear that operation of the Entry HIll site was under discussion, we asked Entry Hill residents what they wanted. Those who responded to us showed strong support for the site to remain as a golf course, albeit with new management and improved facilities. The Entry Hill Community Association (EHCA) Committee supported this and got involved in the selection process, through our local Councillor, to try to ensure that the community at large would benefit, whatever happened. We insisted that any new plans should include an expanded café/community hub and free public access to enable residents to continue to use the space for exercise and recreation.

We recognise that the pattern of leisure activity is naturally changing and evolving, as new sports emerge, and others decline. It can be good to consider novel solutions to meeting changing needs for leisure facilities. Such innovation does carry a high degree of risk and this is the case with this project. We believe there are significant risks with this project, both practical, in how a Mountain Bike park can work in an enclosed urban site; and financial, especially whether the park will be sustainable and whether the pay-to-ride activity can generate enough money to deliver the elements that are relevant to a wider community – the café/community hub, family cycling and activity facilities and safe and enjoyable spaces for walking and recreation.

Alongside our efforts to provide you with factual advice, we do have a range of questions and concerns about the proposals and we are pressing hard to get these answered. As we find out more, we will add further information to this page. We have now developed a more detailed set of principles which we think will help to make sure that these concerns are adressed. You can find it here.

We are particularly concerned about:

The impact on homes immediately bordering the site, which is expecting up to 200 users per day at the weekend, enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes with Mountain Biking - noise is likely to be a particular issue, as is safety and security on the site. Preventing unauthorised, out-of-hours use will also be a challenge.
This is an untested project, with no existing examples of how such a facility works from a commercial perspective, or from a practical viewpoint. We don't know whether the project can generate enough income to develop and maintain the community facilities – we know that past operations on the site have not succeeded in doing this.
Pedal Progression Ltd are a small business and this is a very ambitious project for them - they will need to recruit new staff members with capability in areas that they currently lack which will be an additional cost to the business.
Whether Bath can generate a large enough market of regular users to sustain the park, or whether it will need to rely on visitors arriving from outside to reach the necessary income level. BANES tell us that 90,000 people live within 5 miles of the Bike Park - but we are not sure how many people will use the facility - or how often. There has been no formal market research to test how much local people would pay to visit the park; or how often they would visit.
Whether the facility will be able to attract the diversity of users to deliver to the BANES objective of getting 'more people more active more often'. We have struggled to find images of women and girls, older people or those from the BAME communities enjoying mountain biking. We are also concerned about how it can be made genuinely affordable and accessible to everyone in the community. (We have published a blog from a resident who has calculated that it would cost £100 for a family of four to visit the park )
The Bath Bike Park marketing will be targeted at the 56,000 15-24 year olds who live within cycling distance of the site. This includes very many students. Around 50% of these people are girls and women, who are less likely to be attracted to use the Bike Park regularly.
Whether the site will be dominated by the bike trails and related activities and not genuinely welcoming to the wider community.

Update:

February 22: EHCA has made some limited use of social media around the Bath Bike Park project - to highlight key points in the consultation process and to counter misinformation. However, this can quickly become combative and unpleasant, so we will continue to keep our involvement to a minimum.

We have maintained a dialogue with officers and members of BATHNES Council and continue to press hard to get clear answers to a wide range of outstanding questions. As we get more information, we will continue to add this to these pages. Here is a list of the questions that are currently outstanding and where we will continue to use all of the routes that we can to get accurate answers on behalf of the Entry Hill community.