Forestry and Land Scotland's new plans show more emphasis on skills area as part of the Glentress Masterplan
Forestry and Land Scotland (the organisation that runs Glentress in Scotland) has submitted new plans to develop the Skills Area in Glentress. The plans are revised from the initial submissions, and include a larger area to be included, and several new skill ‘zones’ to be built as part of it. These include new drop and tech zones as well as a mini MTB area, and places to practice cornering and a roller zone.
Following approval and as long as the weather plays ball, the developments should take around 12 weeks, with disruption for riders kept to a minimum. That means you can still hit the trails in the forest, like the Smells Like Tweed Spirit route launched earlier this year.
The old skills area will be redeveloped, adding in more features like drops and rollers
What are the plans for the Glentress skills area?
This is not the first set of plans submitted by Forestry and Land Scotland relating to the skills area, but the new plans have been revised after previous plans “could not be accommodated”. According to Forestry and Land Scotland, the original plan was simpler and covered a smaller area, but the revised plan has been developed in consultation with “local, regional, and national stakeholders and incorporating recommendations by the design consultants, now includes elements such as a mini MTB zone, roller zone, cornering zone, drop and tech zones.”
Sounds exciting. The stakeholders that Forestry and Land Scotland consulted included the GB cycling team, Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, Cycling Scotland, several commercial MTB coaching companies, and more. Unfortunately, due to these changes in the plans, a new submission was required, although it looks like (fingers crossed) all will be approved and the new plans will go ahead.
So what do the new plans propose? The skills area will feature a roller zone, drop and tech zones, a cornering zone and a mini MTB zone. The skills area is designed to offer something for riders of all levels so they can practice and hone skills before utilising the 72km of MTB trails inside Glentress forest.
Forestry and Land Scotland has said that they expect the work will take 12 weeks, following planning approval. South Region Visitor Services Manager Martin Page said:
“From its inception, this has been a high-intensity project that set out to reinvigorate this amazing south Scotland attraction and to significantly improve the offering for visitors, including the free-to-ride mountain bike trails.
“The exciting skills area design was developed following consultation with local riders and a range of regional and national stakeholders. Submission of this new planning application marks the completion of an important milestone and another step towards completing our development work at Glentress. The skills area will round off this section of the project nicely.”
Alongside this development, there is also planned maintenance being carried out on two newer trails in Glentress due to the higher than anticipated usage over summer and the wet weather.
The works on these trails are expected to be completed within a few weeks and disruption “will be kept to a minimum.”