Barnett Demesne/ Mary Peters - mountain bike trail development
This capital project is a collaboration between Countryside Recreation Northern Ireland (CRNI) and Belfast City Council. The overall aim of the project is to develop up to 10kms of singletrack mountain bike trails and associated jump/ skills area, in and around Barnett Demesne/ Mary Peters, on land belonging to Belfast City Council. There is a huge demand/ need for this project with over 200 letters/ emails of support received from mountain bikers to date. CAAN would like to thank all those who have shown their support. CAAN is currently working to secure the necessary funding to deliver this project. An application has been submitted to Lagan Partnership under the Rural Development Programme (a funding programme being delivered through the Dept. of Agriculture & Rural Development) and this is currently being assessed. A request for funding has also been submitted to Belfast City Council. It is hoped that the remaining funding will come from Biffaward (www.biffaward.org), as the site is within 10 miles of a landfill site. However, an application cannot be submitted to this scheme until at least 50% of the funding is in place.
| Proposed Start Date | Dec 2010 |
| Proposed Completion Date | Dec 2011 |
| Project Partners | Belfast City Council |
| Project Funders (Secured) | None |
| Project Funders (Pending) | Lagan Rural Partnership through the Rural Development Programme (DARD) Belfast City Council Biffaward - through Landfill Communities Fund |
| Approximate Cost | £307,000 |
| Other Information | The project has received massive support from the mtb community and will help show funders that there is an identified demand for the project. However, no works can take place until 100% funding is in place. Lagan Partnership has asked for more information on the proposed benefits of the project to people living and working in eligible rural areas - that is areas outside the development boundary of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) and excluding towns/ villages with more than 4500 people. Staff in CAAN are now working on this in order that the application can be assessed asap. |
