Gorge Road Jump Park - The future!
There's been a fair bit going on around the mountain bike media about the future of Gorge Road Jump Park, so we thought we'd try and settle some rumours before they fester into fact.
The QMTBC's License to Occupy has expired, we knew this was coming, so we have arranged with the help of the council for a new one until the end of April next year. Hopefully we'll get another year or two after that. In case we don't, we are working with council to find another site. Council is so committed to trying to find a site, they have offered us some cash to help with the planning for finding a new site.
We are working on the cash to get the rebuild done too.
We understand that rebuilding a jump park isn't a quick or easy job, the club has been through this kinda process before. We've got some folks who are pretty handy on a digger or a spade. We've got some pretty passionate, dedicated people, we'll get this done.
We are pretty fortunate that we have a local authority that is keen to help, that's a good place to start.
Thanks to everyone for the support, it's good to see.
If you want to support the club more, join up, raise our numbers and help us have more sway with the people who need to listen. In addition, if you want to have your voice heard by the council, feel free to submit to their 10 year plan, it's open for comment and submissions now, until Friday, get in there and ask them for some cash for the club to re-build the jump park!
THE BELOW IS THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE :
The Queenstown Mountain Bike Club (QMTBC) and Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) would like to clarify some well-intentioned, but inaccurate information that has been circulating over the past week regarding the Gorge Road Jump Park. The jump park is situated close to town on land that has been identified as important to Queenstown’s growing infrastructure requirements, which needs to expand as the town continues to experience increasing and sustained population growth. QLDC owns the land that the Gorge Road Jump Park is situated on, and QTMBC has previously held a Licence to Occupy (LTO) the site. This has recently expired and was a five year LTO which had been renewed on the back of a previous five-year licence. The recently expired LTO does not have a right of renewal. QLDC and the QTMBC have been in discussion around the future of the jump park for the past year, working together towards a mutually agreeable solution. To assist with this process, QLDC has offered financial assistance to help identify a new site for the jump park. Until the exact nature of the future of the Gorge Road site has been determined, QLDC has also agreed to provide QTMBC yearly renewals of their LTO. The first of these renewals will expire at the end of April 2019 and if the site has yet to be repurposed by this time, an additional year may be granted. Both QMTBC and QLDC are committed to ensuring that the jump park continues to provide a world experience for its users. QMTBC has been aware of this licence expiry for some time and has been working with riders to gain an understanding of the best solutions and options for an alternative site. They are confident they will find an equal or better site, and will lobby QLDC to continue to support the jump park. QMTBC has no desire to let the legend of Gorge Road die, and while this may be on another site in the future, they are working with QLDC to ensure this rich history lives on. Both organisations appreciate that this is an issue the local, national and international biking community are passionate about, and they look forward to being able to announce further details as they become available.
