Council reveals when Northampton bike park will fully reopen after adverse weather forced closure

A bike park in Northampton that was forced to partially close at the start of 2023 due to heavy rain fall could be closed until the start of April.

Northampton Bike Park opened at the former Hardingstone Nine golf course at Delapre in September last year after around £750,000 was spent building the attraction.

However, some of the trails on the west side of the site, which are labelled as ‘all-weather’, have not opened at all this year after trails became damaged and waterlogged following heavy rainfall.

Remedial drainage work, including creating new drainage measures that will help divert excess water from each of the trails, is now complete and contractor On Track is waiting for them to dry sufficiently before resurfacing work can take place.

Councillor Adam Brown, West Northamptonshire Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure, said: “While it’s not unusual for bike parks to close trails during adverse weather conditions, we would not have anticipated the level of impact we’ve seen.

“This meant we were forced to close some trails to ensure they were protected from further damage, and our contractors returned as soon as they could to put preventative measures in place.

“We’re now at the point where that work is almost complete, and the trails will need to dry sufficiently before resurfacing can take place.

“We’re sorry to anyone who has been inconvenienced by these closures and we’re really grateful to everyone for their support and patience while we remedy the situation.”

The council added that, depending on the weather, it is anticipated that work will be completed and trails will reopen by late March to early April.

The bike park initiative was sparked a number of years ago by Northampton resident and bike enthusiast Tony Skirrow, who urged WNC to take advantage of British Cycling's 'Places to Ride' fund.

Speaking to Chronicle & Echo at the opening, Tony said: "This is an enormous investment and an enormous thing for Northampton to have this type of facility. Very few towns have anything approaching this as close to the town centre as we have here.

"It's unique," he added.