Over 50 people attended the first public meeting to hear details on Taupō’s bid to become the Cycling Centre of Excellence for New Zealand.
Project Manager, Mr Will Samuel reminded people this is a once only opportunity for Taupō to become the official cycling centre of New Zealand and although we had come to the bid late in the game, the momentum was already building.
Mr Samuel outlined a number of teams who will work together to look into areas where we have potential gaps in our proposal including funding and provision of tertiary education services and employment opportunities for sports people and their partners who may relocate to Taupō to train. The current project team consists of Sue de Bievre, John Ridd, Keith Crate, Warwick Hall, Giles Turner, Clinton Farley and Suzanne Takiwa.
Dr Giles Turner, a local GP specialising in sports medicine, brings his expertise to the project team saying we already have a comprehensive range of sports related medical and health professionals in the district. “By having the centre of excellence here in Taupō we will attract even more personnel to the district. This will not only benefit cyclists but also a whole range of other sporting codes and athletes. The opportunity to have a high performance lab here will be an advantage to all people involved in exercise,” he said.
Mr Samuel said “We have been liaising with the many cycling clubs and events organisers in the district whose support is critical if the bid is to succeed. Now the project team has 18 weeks to pull together a full proposal, in competition with most other North Island regions to prove that Taupō is the obvious choice to be the home of the NZ Cycling Centre of Excellence.”
He said Taupō had a lot to offer in terms of its central location; its world renowned reputation as the events capital, and its well established cycling community. “We really are rich both in personnel and resources. Taupō district already has an extensive portfolio of cycling events and superb road, track, mountain bike and BMX facilities which are the envy of many. Just as importantly, our district has an amazing network of individuals who are passionate about cycling and we have had nothing but positive feedback and support from everyone we have approached.”
He says we will have a lot more detail on what is required after 22 October when we will receive the Request for Proposal document from SPARC. “We will keep the community informed during the process but I encourage anyone wanting to get involved to contact any one of the team, or join our facebook page for up to the minute updates.”
