Initial Project
Cycling Development Pendle Partnership (CDPP) was formed to assist in the bid process and future development of cycling in Pendle and at the Steven Burke Sports Hub, a 1.2km road circuit laid within the boundary of Swinden playing fields in the heart of Pendle Lancashire. The Sports Hub takes the name of Pendle’s sporting hero Olympic Champion Steven Burke MBE.
Existing football and cricket provision were improved and the existing sports pavilion modernised and refurbished as part of a Sport England funding partnership.
The project is the culmination of determined grass root enthusiasm and supportive expertise within Pendle Borough council, its officers, officials and the general public and has been three years in the making, from concept to bid process and submission. The final bid was submitted, and a positive decision during the summer of 2013.
This Olympic legacy for Pendle went forward with the Sport England “Inspired” fund with match funding backed by Pendle Borough Council, The Lancashire Environmental Fund, and Nelson and Colne area committees. British Cycling also supported the project.
Pendle Schools and Colleges
At the time, the government was consulting on the content of the curriculum, presenting British Cycling with an opportunity to call for all children to be given the right to learn how to ride a bike confidently on the road.
Pendle Vale High school, Nelson and Colne College and Pendle schools sports partnership were 100% behind the Hub and are now significant users.
British Cycling Director for Policy and Legal Affairs Martin Gibbs “Cycling is a vital life-skill that all children should have – especially if we want to normalise cycling as an everyday activity that all people can do.”
“Like the ability to swim, cycling is a skill that young people carry with them throughout their adult lives – be that cycling as a sport, a form of transport and a way to keep fit and healthy.
Cycling Development Pendle Partnership (CDPP)
An initial requirement of funders was that ongoing management of the new facility must be a co-operative arrangement between Pendle Council and representatives from the local cycling community.
CDPP was formed in 2013 as a constituted organisation, with membership from local cycling organisations and interested individuals. The initial partners is listed here.