CYCLE trails in the Peak District are to receive a £1.25million Government cash injection, which park bosses hope will transform the area into a flagship bike-friendly zone.
The national park was chosen as the first rural area to benefit from the Department of Transport's £100million cycle network kitty, due to its close proximity to major cities.
Money will be used to build new trails, improve the park's existing 58
miles of cycle paths, encourage family and commuter cycling, support health education and promote sustainable transport.
Richard Campen, the Peak District National Park Authority's operations director, said: "Cycling England believes the park can become a flagship project demonstrating a model other rural areas can use. This project gives us a real opportunity to develop a generation of cyclists who cycle regularly."
The authority agreed the deal with Cycling England, an independent body funded by the Department of Transport. The cash must be spent by 2011, so officers have started looking at where and how it will be used. These plans will then be debated by the authority's services committee.
Mr Campen said: "We would be interested in talking to anyone with serious ideas about projects that could be developed.
"It would be great if a visitor or commuter could catch a train in Manchester, get off in Buxton and then ride straight down a cycle trail into the national park," he added.
Charlie Hardy, who manages the park authority's three cycle hire centres, thought the scheme would offer new opportunities for her 30,000 customers each year.
She added: "If it can open up new routes that will be fantastic and I think the area will become more popular with cyclists."
The Derwent Valley Cycleway Group, which has campaigned for three years for a traffic-free route between Matlock and Bakewell, said it welcomed any investment in cycle networks. But chairman Chris Strawford added: "Our first priority is really Matlock to Rowsley so we are quite frustrated that the equivalent of this funding isn't coming in this direction from the Government.
"This scheme does show the money is available out there. We just need someone within the councils to push for it on our behalf," he added.
