Construction of the new bike skills park in the Ashburton Domain is planned to get underway in March.

The park will be called Tarbotton RideSmart Park, in recognition of the big donation of machinery and labour by Ashburton company Tarbotton Land and Civil.

Council, Tarbottons and the group of community members charged with bringing the park to life signed a Memorandum of Understanding today to officially get the project underway.

Mayor Liz McMillan, who is on the working group, said the generous donation by Tarbottons meant construction could start at the end of summer.

“We’ve also had generous funding from the Lion Foundation and Mid and South Canterbury Community Trust, and now with the help of Tarbottons and other local businesses we are able to start the physical build.”

Tarbotton RideSmart Park will be built in the domain, near the children’s playground. The existing asphalt pump track will be removed and a new, bigger track built in its place.

The park will feature a network of roads, with stop and give way signs; plus there’ll be traffic lights, a railway crossing and a roundabout – all of which cyclists, scooter riders and pedestrians encounter when moving around Ashburton and other urban centres.

Tarbotton Land and Civil business development manager Tim Tarbotton said the company had been on board during the planning stages and saw the park as a valuable and educational community facility.

“There’s such great enthusiasm for this bike park and it was an easy decision to offer to project manage the job and donate the machinery and people needed to get the work done.  We’re planning for construction to take just three months.”

The park is aimed at teaching road safety skills to children, young people and adults as they learn how to ride a bike or scooter.

Mayor Liz said while the major funders had enabled the project to get underway, there were still sponsorship opportunities for local businesses, groups or people who wanted to contribute.

“We know there are more supporters out there and their help will mean we can finish this project to a high standard that will serve the community well for years.”

Supporters will be acknowledged on a project sign to be erected at the park.

The Memorandum of Understanding for today’s signing was prepared free of charge by Tavendale & Partners.

Want to help too? See the sponsorship booklet here.