A Lochaber man is putting the wheels in motion to bring a “top end” sporting facility to the region.
Gregor Muir wants to raise almost £1 million so that a pump track and BMX park can be built in Fort William.
Mr Muir, 45, who is a dentist in Fort William, regularly takes his son, Cory, to Inverness to use the Highland Skate Parks Association’s facility at Bught Road in the city.
He said: “I’m not an expert on this by any means except that I watch Cory and the other youngsters for two hours at a time and see how enthusiastic they are when they use the park.
“It really is fantastic in Inverness as kids can either ride their bikes or skate on the park. It has half pipes built in so they can learn to do tricks too. The pump track is harder as there are lots of bumps to go over without using the pedals, so the cyclists have to use their body weight to go over them to get around the track.
“We will use the Inverness park as a model for our design and will also look at the management side there as well to see how they run things.”
Mr Muir explained that he has already conducted an online survey about the plan and the results were very positive.
“At the moment, I am making up a shortlist of possible sites for the park then I’ll organise another survey followed by a feasibility study.”
Caol and Mallaig councillor, Ben Thompson, said the project is an “excellent idea”.
He added: “The pump track and BMX park in Inverness is very popular and well used and there is also a really successful one in Edinburgh. I think it is a great urban facility and if we could replicate it in Lochaber, it would be terrific.
“I think it is an excellent idea as Gregor has good local knowledge and I’m sure he will be speaking to other community groups to see where the best location for a facility like this would be.”
Mr Muir said the local cycling club, West Highland Wheelers, is behind the venture and a donation of £125 was received from the Friends of Banavie Park towards the project.
“Now we have just £999,875 left to raise,” he added, “but it will be worth it to have such a great facility in Fort William.”
