National cycling centre set for Cambridge

Sarah Ulmer was part of the successful bid team. Photo / Christine McKay

The new National Cycling Centre of excellence is set to be built near Cambridge after the Waikato-Bay of Plenty region's bid was named today as Sport and Recreation New Zealand's (Sparc) preferred venue.

Sparc will enter into talks with Waikato-Bay of Plenty over its proposal to build the new world-class indoor velodrome and, subject to agreement, it will be confirmed as the base on May 6.

The preferred bid will see the base situated next to St Peter's School on State Highway 1 on the outskirts of Cambridge.

The bid team featured Olympic cycling champion Sarah Ulmer, Olympic rowing gold medallist Rob Wadddell and squash legend Dame Susan Devoy.

They fended off competition from Palmerston North and Auckland who were part of a three region shortlist.

An economic impact assessment report put the cost of the proposed centre at $28.5 million and estimated it would take 18 months to build and create 120 jobs.

Sparc chief executive Peter Miskimmin said a national cycling centre of excellence would be a huge asset to New Zealand and was exciting for the continued development of the sport.

The Government last year announced plans to work with partners to develop a national cycling hub, as part of investment in high performance sport. The Government is contributing $7 million to the project.

Sparc will not comment on the specifics of the bids until the tender process is completed, but Miskimmin said Sparc and BikeNZ officials are scheduled to de-brief regions which missed out to explain why their tenders were unsuccessful.

- NZPA