The Queenstown Mountain Bike Club (QMTBC) and Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) would like to clarify some well-intentioned, but inaccurate information that has been circulating over the past week regarding the Gorge Road Jump Park.

The jump park is situated close to town on land that has been identified as important to Queenstown’s growing infrastructure requirements, which needs to expand as the town continues to experience increasing and sustained population growth.

QLDC owns the land that the Gorge Road Jump Park is situated on, and QTMBC has previously held a Licence to Occupy (LTO) the site. This has recently expired and was a five year LTO which had been renewed on the back of a previous five-year licence. The recently expired LTO does not have a right of renewal.

QLDC and the QTMBC have been in discussion around the future of the jump park for the past year, working together towards a mutually agreeable solution. To assist with this process, QLDC has offered financial assistance to help identify a new site for the jump park.

Until the exact nature of the future of the Gorge Road site has been determined, QLDC has also agreed to provide QTMBC yearly renewals of their LTO. The first of these renewals will expire at the end of April 2019 and if the site has yet to be repurposed by this time, an additional year may be granted.

Both QMTBC and QLDC are committed to ensuring that the jump park continues to provide a world experience for its users.

QMTBC has been aware of this licence expiry for some time and has been working with riders to gain an understanding of the best solutions and options for an alternative site. They are confident they will find an equal or better site, and will lobby QLDC to continue to support the jump park.

QMTBC has no desire to let the legend of Gorge Road die, and while this may be on another site in the future, they are working with QLDC to ensure this rich history lives on.

Both organisations appreciate that this is an issue the local, national and international biking community are passionate about, and they look forward to being able to announce further details as they become available.

ENDS

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