Central Scotland Green Network

Cycling Projects to Benefit from £8m Facilities Fund

The Scottish Government and sportscotland have announced the first nine projects to receive investment from the £8million Cycling Facilities Fund, including £50,256 for a new pump track at Gala Park in Denny, alongside several others in the CSGN area.

The fund will deliver a tangible benefit from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – Glasgow & Scotland by celebrating the unique power of the bike and all it can bring to our everyday lives. In this first round of funding, projects from the Borders to the Highlands will share £1,554,633 to develop accessible, inclusive and inspiring facilities.

With Scotland set to host the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, the ambition is for the Cycling Facilities Fund to provide accessible community and club facilities like Gala Park that inspire new and existing cyclists to make cycling a sport for life.

The facility will provide more opportunities for the local community to take part in cycling, including complete beginners. The track has also been designed to make it accessible for disability sport, and programmes to encourage more girls to take part in cycling are being developed. The pump track will be free of charge and open all year round for community use.

In August 2023, Glasgow and Scotland will host the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. This historic and innovative event bring together 13 existing World Championship cycling disciplines into one mega event for the first time.

The Championships is more than just an event and will celebrate the unique power of the bike and all it can bring to our everyday lives, whether it’s physical and mental health benefits, easing congestion on the road to help the environment, or simply making it easier for people to get around. Underpinned by four key policy drivers – participation, transport, tourism and economy – the Championships will be a catalyst for behavioural change across Scotland moving forward.

I am delighted to see this investment in community and club cycling projects across Scotland which will hopefully encourage more people to take up cycling for the benefits to their physical, mental and social health. I want us to build on the enthusiasm for cycling this year and see even more people choosing to cycle for recreation and active travel.

Scotland hosting the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships gives us a great opportunity to use the power of the bike to help meet our transport, health and environmental aims, as well as supporting the events industry through its recovery.

This funding will support that opportunity by developing accessible community facilities, helping with our ambitions to support participation across all groups, tackle inequalities, and help more people lead active lives. As part of Scotland’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen thousands of people embrace the benefits of cycling, and I hope that the excitement generated as we build up to this major event will encourage even more people to get active on their bikes.

Maree Todd

Sports Minister

In this first round of funding, projects from the Borders to the Highlands will share

£1,554,633

to develop accessible, inclusive and inspiring facilities.

The £50k award secured from sportscotland is a tremendous boost for our plans to install a pump track in Gala Park.

Additional funding has already been secured from other sources and together with the award announced today means we can deliver a £100k pump track in Denny.

Specialist pump track designers will be appointed to design and build the new pump track which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2022. This will be the 3rd pump track built in the Council area in recent years with well used facilities already in place at Zetland Park and in Avonbridge.

Danny Thallon

Falkirk Council’s Environment Co-ordinator

We are delighted to acknowledge this funding Award from sportscotland which will be crucial in financing the development of the pump track within Gala Park. These kinds of projects deliver important leisure assets for local communities, add environmental value to our green spaces, and help embody the vision of the Central Scotland Green Network. I’d like to thank everyone involved for bringing this exciting project to fruition”

The national Cycling Facilities Fund was established to build on the growing interest in cycling by developing a network of accessible facilities to encourage people of all ages to ride bikes and enjoy the sport of cycling. It will also deliver a tangible benefit as part of the wider policy objectives driving the forthcoming 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, which will take place in Glasgow and Scotland.

Derek Robertson

Chief Executive of the Green Action Trust