Hastings Launch Pad for National School Bike Training Roll-Out

An initiative to get Hastings kids on bikes and riding safely will be developed with the intention of rolling it out across New Zealand as a national standard.

As part of making Hastings a cycling and walking model community Hastings District Council and BikeNZ, New Zealand’s national cycling agency, have joined together to deliver BikeNZ Learn to Ride, a cycle skills training programme to up to 500 Year 6 primary school children in Hastings District.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule signed an agreement yesterday with BikeNZ chair Richard Leggat to partner in the programme.

“Both the Council and BikeNZ want to see more kids on bikes and making sure they’re safe when they do go out on the road. We think this programme is the most effective way of making sure our kids have the necessary skills to become confident and competent riders.”

“Working with BikeNZ will bring a wide range of biking education skills and knowledge to the programme that will ensure that this is a great success.”

Council received $4m from the New Zealand Transport Agency last year to make Hastings a national leader in walking and cycling and the programme will be funded out of this.

Richard Leggat says the programme supports BikeNZ’s vision of a nation embracing cycling.

“We want to work with communities to establish a nationwide programme to ensure children get the skills, opportunity to ride and experience the benefits that cycling offers.

“Starting the programme in Hastings, a role-model in cycling, is a big step in developing a longer-term, more in depth programme that will be a “best practice model” for New Zealand,” Mr Leggat says.

Council and BikeNZ will work together with local key stakeholders such as schools, Police, NZTA, Sports Hawke’s Bay, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and Cycling Advocates Network to develop a model that best delivers to Hastings children.

While the programme launched today is about cycle skills training, it’s recognised that the more primary school children there are biking today, the more children will take up cycling as a sport in future, inevitably leading to more Olympic success for New Zealand.

Mayor Yule says this important partnership with BikeNZ reinforces Hawke’s Bay as the “Cycling Capital of New Zealand”.

“Hawke’s Bay recognises cycling as both an important sport that we want to fully support and as an everyday activity that’s increasingly popular in the Bay - both have significant social and economic benefits.”