£11 million investment planned for new Aberdeen bike park

Plans have been revealed for a significant investment in Scotland’s north east, with an £8 million to £11 million pot proposed for a new mountain bike and snow centre in Aberdeenshire.

During its AGM at Aberdeen’s Transition Extreme, Netco outlined aspirations for the development, proposed to be built at a site in Durris Forest, found between Banchory and Stonehaven.

Cycling is worth a significant chunk of money to Scotland’s economy, with research putting bike-related tourism at £106 million in value. According to a report tracking bike use, cycling levels are up 46% over the past decade

Netco chairman Martin Byers said of the plans: “It’s the perfect time to launch our vision of a multi-adventure activity mountain bike park, which we firmly believe is greatly needed in Aberdeenshire. Our plans represent an opportunity to inspire more people to discover outdoor sports in a natural environment, bolster Scotland’s current mountain biking facilities strategy, create jobs and help bring sustained growth to our local economy.”

The resort, if plans proceed, will generated an estimates 70 new jobs, of which 45 would be full-time roles. Around 45km of purpose-built multi-discipline trails would be built across 256 hectares of land.

Once live, it is hoped that trails and snowsports on offer could generate £2 million of gross added value for the local economy.

Read the full Netco announcement here.