Reddish Vale: Our Proposal

The proposal is to create world class facilities to train the MTB'ers of today and tomorrow. The proposal will be carried out in two distinct phase. The proposal will only directly affect a small piece of land at Woodhall fields. This piece of land is classed as contaminated as it has 1000's of tonnes of rotting waste, including asbestos, just below the surface. Please don't forget to read the technical report for the fine details.

The project will attract grants but is mainly self funding by being paid by companies who do not want soil anymore. During any house building project, soil is produced by the digging of the foundations. This is generally unwanted by the house builder and they will pay to have it taken away. This soil can be used to landscape the old landfill into a design suitable for mountain biking.

A not for profit organisation (NPO) will be set up to manage the project and allocate the funds generated, to projects within Reddish Vale eg the building of a new visitors centre & Café. It is expected that the NPO members will be made up of local Councillors and other interested local parties eg the friends of Reddish Vale group. The NPO will manage all the finances and select the contractors to carry out the design of the work etc. The members of the Manchester Mountain Bike group will not be members of the NPO but will be available as advisors, should they be required. However it is hoped that the NPO will allocate some funds for the running of the MTB club to help finance the training of the local children!

Phase 1

The first phase will cover the old landfill on Woodhall fields with an average of 3 metres of soil. This will be made into bumps and hills to add interest and provide suitable depth for trees to grow in. A course like the picture on the right will be built into the hill. This is call a 4cross (4X) track. There will be no development outside the are of contaminated land within Reddish Vale LNR

A part of the development will be the creation of a new woodland habitat to completely cover the Woodhall fields landfill. This will ensure the park does not harm the countryside appearance of the Vale. To support the increased number of visitors the development will finance a new modern visitors centre with a café and bike hire facilities.

The park will be designed to allow a full range of abilities to use, whether it is a family on a Sunday ride or a professional dirt jumper practicing for a world event. The aim is to have a MTB training school, proving riding instruction for all skill levels. Instructors will we be suitably qualified. Young children and adults will be encouraged to participate in a sporting activity that is global sport. It maybe possible we will provide a future world champion for the 2012 Olympics.

The main areas of phase 1 will involve: (Please click each one to get more information on the area)

Phase 2

The Tameside extension will concentrate on a downhill (DH) track. DH is a gravity assisted riding event usually against the clock on courses, which typically take two to five minutes to complete. As the name of this discipline implies, downhill races are held on steep, downhill terrain with no extended climbing sections, resulting in high speed descents with extended air time off jumps and other rocky obstacles.

The main activity on phase 2 will be:

Other improvements

    Only the NPO will have the power to spend the money generated by the project. Some suggestions are:
  • The elimination of invasive plant species such as Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam
  • The provision of a new visitors centre
  • The creation of new wildlife habitats ponds etc
  • A program of planting of new plant species not currently in the Vale eg new orchid species.
  • Purchase of land at Woodhouse farm to increase the size of RV & provide a tarmac surface TPT suitable for wheelchairs and prams.