Tralee, Co. Kerry – For Immediate Release
11/12/2020
Local community group Mountain Biking Kerry (MTBKY) are calling on the public to support their campaign to have the Tralee Urban Bike Park project progressed. Despite a site being identified earlier this year the location has now fallen through and the project has stalled.
The group has set up a petition and is asking the public to sign and to contact County Councillors to get the project moving: https://mtbky.ie/news/buildthebikepark/
Speaking on behalf of MTBKY, Anluan Dunne said: “This will be an amazing facility for people to enjoy, get some exercise and to give people another reason to visit our town. We need the people of Tralee to support this project and see it delivered. It’s a potential game changer for Tralee. Please, sign the petition today and contact your elected reps.”
At the Tralee Municipal District meeting of Kerry County Council on the 6th of July, 2020, Kerry County Council had confirmed that a site had been identified for the Tralee Urban Bike Park. A representative for the Council said: “Kerry County Council are proceeding with the acquisition of a site for the provision of this amenity. Once finalised, a funding stream will be sought to enable it to be delivered”.
In January 2020, Anluan Dunne of Mountain Biking Kerry presented the project to Cllrs. and Council Management, to outline the park’s potential. Key to the presentation was a request to Kerry County Council to commit to a site to locate the project upon and identification of a funding stream. The project received the unanimous backing of Tralee Councillors.
Anluan Dunne continued: “The Council have been very supportive, as have the Councillors. It has been nearly a year since I presented the project and unfortunately the progress made has been lost. Obviously the Pandemic has had an impact on the pace of things, but we have to all pedal harder to get this project going.”
MTBKY, a community group run by local mountain biker Anluan Dunne, have been working with the County Council and former Kerry County Cllr., now minister, Norma Foley on the project for the past 3 years.
County Kerry has a diverse, and active mountain biking population. We also have amazing mountain bike clubs who are working hard to promote the sport, but locations are limited. We also have young people crying out for more to do with their idle time.
MTBKY look forward to continuing their work with Kerry County Council and elected representatives to deliver this project.
Head to https://mtbky.ie/news/buildthebikepark/ for more information.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Contacts
For further information please email connect@mtbky.ie
About MTBKY
Mountain Biking Kerry was established in 2018 to promote and advocate for the development of mountain bike facilities and trails across the county. The group has run events aimed at getting more children active outdoors and riding their bikes off-road.
Mountain Biking in Kerry
The sport is massively undeveloped in the county despite the low cost of trail development and the huge potential of our natural landscape. Informal trails and open mountain riding are the mainstay of Kerry’s mountain bikers. Investment in a regional trail centre in Tralee is the next natural step for the development of the sport in Kerry. Other locations such as Dingle, Killarney and Listowel all have sufficient local population and facilities to support the sport. The nearest public trail centre to Kerry is Ballyhoura (2hrs by car) which attracts tens of thousands of people each year and facilitates both local and national events.
Cycle Tourism
Cycle tourism across Europe is worth more than €42bn euro each year. Ireland sees practically none of this income as no concerted effort to provide for and promote cycle holidays has been undertaken. As Kerry is highly dependant on tourism it makes sense to invest in a tourism product that has local, national and international appeal.