Cyclists have nowhere to park bikes in Castlewellan

Cyclists have nowhere to park bikes in Castlewellan

6 March 2013

CASTLEWELLAN  is soon to be at the centre of Northern Ireland’s mountain bike community.

Work is nearing completion on a near £2m series of bike trails in the forest park which are expected to attract thousands of cyclists.

But with cyclists already flooding into Castlewellan there is one problem — they have nowhere to park their bikes.

 Mr. Dominic King, manager of the Hillyard House guesthouse in the town, has called for bike parking racks to be provided in the Upper and Lower Square areas and close to the entrance to the forest park.

His idea has secured the support of councillor Patrick Clarke who is to raise the issue with council officials, asking for the bicycle racks to be in place before the forest trails are officially opened in April.

Mr. King said over the past few months, more and more people are bringing bicycles with them as they visit the area. But he said when people ride into Castlewellan town centre to shop, or visit cafes and restaurants, there is nowhere for them to park.

“We need a dedicated parking facility for cyclists who currently have to leave their bikes up against shops or walls. I have no doubt the number of visitors to Castlewellan will increase when the new bike trails open at the forest park.”

Mr. King said many people welcome the £2m investment to create new trails in Castlewellan and Kilbroney forest parks and recognise the boost they will provide.

“More people are coming to Castlewellan and we need to cater for the cycling fraternity by providing somewhere for them to park their bikes,” he said. “Such a facility would be very welcome and may also encourage dedicated cyclists and indeed families to ride into the town centre while they are visiting our forest park.”

Councillor Clarke said the mountain bike trails have the potential to be one of the district’s leading tourist attractions. He said similar facilities in other parts of the UK attract tens of thousands of visitors and generate millions of pounds in income.

“I believe dedicated parking racks for bikes would be welcomed by visitors to Castlewellan and don’t believe they would cost that much to provide. While the new trails are in the forest park, we need to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to cater for cyclists when they come into the town centre,” he continued.

“Providing bike racks would be good for tourism and I plan to raise the issue at the nest meeting of Down Council’s Building and Estates Committee.”