On Thursday I visited Palmer Park Sports Stadium to hear about how continued Council neglect could spell disaster for those reliant on the cycling facility. At the Sports Stadium Rob met with Chris Macleod, Chairman of Palmer Park Velo youth cycling club, and Andy Pitt of Reading Velodrome Racing, to discuss the essential maintenance work required to ensure the longevity of the cycle track. The 459 metre track is threatened by weed-growth that is breaking the edges and the cracking of the asphalt which has damaged the surface; moreover the bounding fences have been neglected for over a decade and are falling apart, consequently exposing nails and sharp edges. The clubs themselves have undertaken the corrective work voluntarily and by doing so have incurred personal financial costs. Both clubs have raised these serious health and safety concerns with Reading Borough Council (RBC), but these have been ignored, with numerous promises being made by Councillors but no effective remedial work taking place. Whenever RBC has been pressed into action the bare minimum has been done which often proves temporary and in-effective. Such is the extent of the deterioration the clubs fear that without immediate remedial work one of two things will result; either a participant will be injured whilst competing or the clubs will lose the support of insurers British Cycling on the grounds that the track is unsafe to use. The stadium regularly hosts events on a regional-level and in 2013 hosted the National Youth Omnium Final, an event requiring qualification by over 120 youth cyclists from across the British Isles. The track is also incredibly popular locally, frequently attracting over 50 cyclists to each of its sessions and often attracting closer to 100. It’s such a shame that Reading Borough Council has let the Palmer Park Stadium cycle track fall into this state of disrepair. Sadly this has so often been the case with much-needed community facilities across the borough - swimming pools are another area where governance at RBC is really letting local people down. The track is obviously in need of urgent maintenance – the weed sand cracks on the surface are completely unacceptable and pose a risk to the safety of participants. There are also major problems with the bounding fences which have literally been left to rot away. Thankfully Palmer Park Velo and Reading Velodrome Racing clubs have undertaken personally to complete the necessary remedial work. This has patched-up the track sufficiently to allow cyclists to continue to enjoy what is clearly a much-enjoyed facility. This is not a long-term solution however and in order to ensure the future of the track and the clubs that rely on it urgent action is required from RBC. The clubs have requested this assistance as they are determined to maintain it to a high standard, but despite the empty-promises from Councillors the facility remains largely ignored. I have written to the Council and requested immediate action to return the Stadium to an acceptable standard so that it can continue to help cultivate the cycling talent of the future. It wouldn’t take much to do and it would also be financially prudent to undertake the works before the problem is further exacerbated and a more substantial outlay required.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:18:33 +0000
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