February target for bike track completion

An artist's impression of the bike pump track that Napier City Council plans to build on Marine Parade, south of the aquarium.

Napier City Council's plans to build the country's first bike "pump track" on Marine Parade will help improve what is currently a "reasonably scruffy" southern gateway into the city, Mayor Bill Dalton says.

The pump track - a 500m circuit of rollers, berms and jumps allowing riders to continuously "pump" their bikes rather than pedalling - will be built at a cost of about $342,000 on land south of the National Aquarium.

The facility would provide "a wonderful facility for those who want to exercise", Mr Dalton said.

"It also gives us an opportunity to tidy up that entrance to the city. It will be planted nicely and the parking area will also incorporate an area for freedom camping."

The council said survey work for the project was under way and it was hoped the track would be completed by February next year. The pump track would cater for riders with a wide range of skills, abilities and ages and would also be able to be used by keen skateboarders and scooter riders.

The council said the track complements its Marine Parade redevelopment proposal, which opens for public consultation tomorrow, and includes turning the current Marineland site into a multi-purpose recreational facility.

Meanwhile, Mr Dalton said the council was reassessing plans announced early this year to build a multi-million dollar artificial "wave garden" surfing lagoon as a tourist attraction in the city.

"When we announced that we were keen to do that it was based on information from other people who had done the research," Mr Dalton said. "It actually turns out that it would be considerably more expensive, it would take considerably more space, and we've had a great deal of difficulty getting proper working information out of the people who make these things."

The surfing park - with the ability to generate perfectly formed tubing waves that can "peel" for more than 220 metres without losing power or shape - would have been the first attraction of its type in the country.

The idea had been "put to one side, although we haven't totally ruled it out", Mr Dalton said.

"We're getting on with things we can get on with but we're continuing a working brief on it. We're certainly not going to go ahead unless we are very confident that it is the appropriate thing to do."