Merlin Park BMX Track proposal

Background

One of the consistent themes we hear from residents is about the lack of free-to-use facilities for children, especially older children, in Portishead. This need has become acute over recent years as our population has grown dramatically. The Portishead Neighbourhood Plan consultation carried out earlier this year highlighted the lack of community facilities as one of the biggest gaps in Portishead "infrastructure" caused by rapid development.

Well managed community facilities can have a huge positive impact on people’s general health and wellbeing.

Portishead Town Council has been looking for a site for where we could potentially build a BMX track - who knows we might unearth the next Olympic BMX champion! Local teenagers have visited the Town Council to tell us how they would really appreciate a good local facility.

The North Somerset Council owned Merlin Park is a possible site and we would really like to know your views about building a BMX Track there.

More about the proposal

The track would be designed for riders of all ages for both scooters and bikes. It would be maintained by Portishead Town Council and would be free to use.

The area used would be about 40 metres wide and 100 metres long with the track itself being approximately 30 metres by 90 metres.

The map below shows the proposed location on Merlin Park, marked by the red rectangle.

Here is a recent photo of the area to give some more context

The pictures below show examples of what a finished BMX track could look like (no designs have been decided at this stage)