The Forres Community Woodlands Trust (FCWT) are looking to press ahead with plans to create mountain bike trails in part of the Sanquhar Woodlands, which should attract a range of users, from recreational cyclists through to keen competitors in the sport.

Group chairman Chris Piper said they were hoping to get the funding to complete the project this year, adding that they had had talks with Moray Council about their plans, which would be unlikely to need planning consent, meaning the facility could be up and running by the summer.

The woodlands were purchased by the FCWT for the local community a few years ago, with cash raised from donations given by members of the public and from grant funding.

The FCWT have been busy during the last few months with a major timber operation, as part of a long-term maintenance plan for the area. Work has now finished, and Mr Piper said it was now all systems go.

"The trust is now ready to accelerate its long-held ambition to provide a new and exciting community facility," he said.

"We think this will bring a unique benefit to Forres."

Mr Piper explained that they wanted to keep ahead of the fast-moving trend for mountain biking, and also encouraging local people to get out and about in their local woodlands and to take up the sport.

He said they had been prompted by the fact that Scotland was fast gaining a reputation as a pre-eminent destination in the world for mountain biking, which was proved when the World Mountain Biking Championships were held in Fort William last year.

"Scotland's woodlands and forests are increasingly providing an ideal environment," he said.

"There is varied and challenging terrain for this rapidly growing sport."

He added that they were keen to establish a formal mountain bike facility in Forres to encourage the local community, and particularly youngsters, to get started in the sport and to provide an extra recreational facility for the wider Moray community.

"We would like to think that the Sanquhar trails could provide just that," he said.

"We hope that the new facility will complement, rather than conflict with, other users of the community woodland, but we are conscious that mountain biking will not be appreciated by everyone."

He said a key feature of the Sanquhar Woodlands was the large and varied terrain, which was able to absorb a variety of activities and interests, while still being highly accessible to most people in Forres.

"The trust is in the business of managing and enhancing the woodlands as a key asset for the Forres community and visitors to enjoy," he said.

"This is a great opportunity to offer access to a healthy and increasingly popular means of recreation. Nonetheless, we are keen to hear people's views."

He said that during the past year, a lot of the ground work had been done, as discussion has been ongoing with Moray Council's Community Youth Development Team and a team of enthusiastic young riders from the Forres Freeride Mountain Bike Group.

"They are 'mustard-keen' to get the trails started on a more formalised basis in the woods," he said.

In October, the FCWT and Moray Council joined forces to commission a leading Scottish mountain bike specialist to carry out a preliminary feasibility study and outline trail design to provide recommendations as to how best to progress the trails proposal.

Community Youth Development Team representative Robin Weeden, from Moray Council, has thrown his weight behind the project.

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with the FCWT and these local youngsters," he said.

"Together we feel that it is of paramount importance to involve more younger folk within the community to develop a stronger sense of ownership and stewardship of beautiful local ass-ets like Sanquhar."

He said that the objective was to create a modest network of approximately two kilometres of mainly "entry level" trails as well as some challenging features for the slightly more intrepid riders.

"But they will be primarily oriented towards families and those looking to gain a relatively gentle introduction to mountain biking, and they will help to build confidence and technique before striking out into more extensive trails elsewhere in Moray and further afield," he said.

He said that they were aiming to develop the trails in a reasonably self-contained area to the south-west of the woodlands which had a variety of terrain that lent itself well to beginner and intermediate level mountain biking.

"Mountain bike trails do not come cheap, however, and the specialist report indicates that some £60,000 would be needed to construct them to a high, safe and long-lasting quality," said Mr Piper.

"While this might seem like an enormous task, the trust is committed to making this facility for Forres happen, and we are now turning our attention to how the necessary funds might be raised from a number of sources."

Mr Piper told the 'Gazette' that they were not asking the public to fund the facility, but had a number of solid ideas for grant applications to pay for the new tracks.

Once the cash is raised, he said, it would take about six weeks to construct the trails, which would not be big motorable tracks, but trails suitable for mountain bikes, in line with the sort of sport they wish to encourage.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---