After three years on the drawing board, the New Plymouth BMX club is on the home stretch, chasing down $700,000 to make their international track at Bell Block’s Hickford Park a reality. The nationally respected club got the green light to build the track in Bell Block in August 2013, after three years of planning and design work on a facility to replace the ageing and outdated track it has used for the past 34 years at Marfell, New Plymouth. It is hoped construction of the track beside the Hickford Park velodrome can begin in November 2014 and be finished by the end of the year. The lack of a world-class facility has often been raised as a hindrance to the sport in Taranaki and the track has the support of South Taranaki BMX clubs. The track will be used for club nights and annual races, and would cater for local, national and international events. Members of the public will also be free to use the track outside of these events.
