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Petition launched to build velodrome in Birmingham for Commonwealth Games

Track cycling at event in 2022 is due to take place in London

A petition for a velodrome to be built in the West Midlands ahead of the 2022 Commoonwealth Games, which are being held in Birmingham, has gained more than 1,500 signatures since it went live yesterday.

The city was last month awarded the Games, in place of original host Durban, South Africa, whose plans had been hit by funding difficulties.

But Birmingham's final does not include the building of a velodrome, with track cycling events due to take place at the Lee Valley VeloPark, which hosted the sport at the London 2012 Olympics.

The petition, launched by Charlie Dickens, puts forward the case for the velodrome as follows:

The West Midlands Region has a population of 5.6 million people but there is no indoor velodrome within the area. Birmingham also does not have a single banked cycling track.

Track cycling within the West Midlands can only develop by having investment into modern facilities.

As part of Birmingham Cycling Revolution there is a stated aim to have 5% of all trips taken by bicycle before 2022.

The Velo Birmingham cycle sportive was a huge success with 15,000 cyclists participating.

Due to new indoor velodromes within the UK there has been a huge increase in female and paralympic track cyclists but the West Midlands is being left behind.

Modern velodromes support multi-sport facilities and are used for various non-sporting events too.

A new indoor cycling track would encourage people from all backgrounds to try this great sport. Children from socially deprived backgrounds will not be able to travel to London to watch the track cycling at the Commonwealth Games.

Former UCI president Brian Cookson backs the proposal, and said: “I am absolutely certain that Birmingham deserves and needs a velodrome of its own.

"Cycling is a wonderful sport and pastime, and the West Midlands region has always produced cyclists of the highest levels of ability.

"But without modern facilities of the requisite standard, future generations will miss out.”

Thge petition has also been backed by Kay Godwin Jones, whose father, Tommy Godwin, came from Birmingham and won two bronze medals at the 1948 Olympic  Games in London.

She said: “Tommy’s greatest wish prior to his death 2012, having been one of Birmingham’s Olympic ambassadors was that there should be a velodrome in the Birmingham area," something he spent many years campaigning for.

"He would have been delighted that the Commonwealth Games bid had been successful but devastated that his beloved track cycling would not be held in Birmingham,” she added.

According to the petition, the money needed to build the velodrome could come from existing sports budgets of the Birmingham Organising Committee Commonwealth Games Ltd and British Cycling, meaning that households would not have to contribute through council tax.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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15 comments

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
3 likes

Totally against, Birmingham is crying out for cycling infrastructure for the masses not a massively expensive monstrosity for a handful of people and financially out of reach for most to use.
Legacy projects have proven not to have an impact on uptake of cycling, the money should be used were it will have an actual effect on safety iand increasing numbers of people on bikes.

Avatar
ped | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've long thought it odd that Brum didn't have a velodrome, but for the Commies, why not share the love with Derby? Capacity might be an issue, mind.

That said, it's such an archaic notion. The Commonwealth, not Derby. Although come to think of it …

Avatar
Valbrona | 6 years ago
1 like

The Commonwealth was useful when we needed big places to test nuclear bombs or people to test new drugs on, but not now.

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don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
0 likes

Signed, I think it's a great idea, something positive.

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SteppenHerring | 6 years ago
1 like

I am right behind the idea of building a velodrome for a prestigious sporting event.

 

And when the event is done, they can then hand it over to a private company that gradually introduces increasingly onerous rules that make it harder and more expensive for local clubs to get time on there. It's worked for LVV.

Avatar
handlebarcam | 6 years ago
0 likes

A velodrome would be a great resource for the people of the area. I'm not sure why they need an excuse to build one, but if the world's most irrelevant sporting contest is deemed sufficient justification to actually do something worthwhile, then OK.

Avatar
Leviathan | 6 years ago
1 like

But there are perfectly good velodromes in Manchester and London, why put one in a little village in the middle of nowhere?

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El Camino | 6 years ago
0 likes

Being slightly pedantic with this comment but the West Midlands does have at least two velodromes, albeit outdoor ones. One at Halesowen and the other in Wolverhampton.
A world class venue would be great, though.

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Valbrona replied to El Camino | 6 years ago
0 likes

Rose on a Rose wrote:

Being slightly pedantic with this comment but the West Midlands does have at least two velodromes, albeit outdoor ones. One at Halesowen and the other in Wolverhampton. A world class venue would be great, though.

And the one at Salford Park, Birmingham - since demolished, I believe - was Britain's Vigorelli. (I've been inside both).

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brakesmadly | 6 years ago
1 like

Maybe crowdsourcing would work better than a petition?

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

Ooooh Nigel won't be happy with you!

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Valbrona | 6 years ago
1 like

Birmingham couldn't put on a jumble sale.

And anyway, it's about time we scrapped the Commonwealth.

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Timsen replied to Valbrona | 6 years ago
1 like

Valbrona wrote:

Birmingham couldn't put on a jumble sale.

And anyway, it's about time we scrapped the Commonwealth.

Thanks everybody for ignoring  this troll, keep it up !

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jhsmith87 | 6 years ago
0 likes

A fantastic idea. 

Avatar
Wolfshade | 6 years ago
0 likes

A velodrome would be most awesome  1

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