MONMOUTHSHIRE council’s bid to build a state-of-the-art off-road cycle track in Gilwern has hit the buffers.

It announced last year that the track, which will be the first of its kind in Wales, would open at Gilwern Outdoor Education Centre, near Abergavenny, this year.

The proposed 1.2km looped circuit, will span six metres in width, and offer the county an elite-level facility that will play host to national and sporting competitions.

The council’s head of Leisure, Tourism and Heritage, Ian Saunders, said: “After careful consideration the Gilwern cycle track scheme has proven too difficult to develop and other sites are being investigated, although the funding of any new proposal has not been agreed.”

He added: “Detailed ecological surveys and transport plans as well as other factors like conforming to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority’s dark skies policy have indicated the cycle track scheduled for Gilwern would prove too costly, especially given the difficult financial outlook the council is facing”.

The council’s deputy leader, Councillor Bob Greenland said: “Officers are considering other sites, but it is too early to say when or if an alternative site may be identified.”

A spokeswoman for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said no formal application by Monmouthshire council was received for the site.

The cost of building a new cycling track and training centre, which is subject to planning permission, is £420,000.

The county council proposed to offset the cost with a grant of £150,000 in funding through the Sport Wales Calls for Action programme. The council plan to match the fund this from the council’s Capital Invest to Save, £50,000 from the leisure budget and a further £120,000 from housing developers at Ty Mawr and Lancaster Drive for recreation as part of planning negotiations.

On a more regular basis, the velo-track will become a cycling hub, providing school and adult clubs space for cycling, training for competitive cycling groups, increasing disability cycling and providing a place for recreational cyclists.

It is estimated that the velo-track would see over 45,000 new participants using the site in the first three years and an average of 1,045 regular weekly visitors.