Issued by City of York Council
City of York Council’s Cabinet will consider an investment of £873,000 for the delivery of the Tour de France Grand Depart Stage 2 in York, as the city plays a central part in Yorkshire’s hosting of the largest annual sporting event in the world, at a meeting on 1 October 2013.
Members will also be asked to accept an update on the preparations so far and agree the central aims of the delivery of the event, shaped around five key themes, including the Event, the Local Legacy, Cultural Opportunity, Communications and Commercial Opportunity.
The report emphasises the authority’s commitment to ensuring a safe and enjoyable event in York, which enhances the reputation of the city; maximising the economic benefit and opportunity for the city; and securing a long lasting legacy for York.
Councillor Sonja Crisp, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism said: “The Tour de France is one of the world’s top global sporting events attracting a TV audience of over 3.5 billion people.
“When the Grand Départ came to London in 2007, the economic benefit from hosting this major event was estimated to be £88m and a further £35m worth of media coverage to London and surrounding region.
“Working with our city partners and our own expert officers, we have a proven track record of staging high-quality, large-scale events which involve and delight local people and reach international TV audiences.
“Whilst this will be a huge boost to the city’s leisure and tourism industries, it is also a complex and challenging event to deliver, with an estimated additional 180,000 people coming into the city for our leg of the Tour.
“The event is now less than a year away and our focus is very much on the delivery of the York element, ensuring we have the necessary investment to be able to maximise the benefits for the city.”
Event organisers ASO and their technical teams will visit the city in early October to finalise the route, highways conditions, promenade and race start arrangements.
The total projected cost of staging the event and legacy elements for York is £1.6m. Members approved use of the Economic Infrastructure Fund to fund the regional contributions (£500k) in February 2013 and the government has announced it is providing a contribution to the event of £291,000 for York.
The report highlight’s York’s role in taking the lead for the region on the legacy programme to help improve Yorkshire’s health, environment and economy through the promotion and increased use of cycling, as a transport mode, as a pastime and for sport, in urban and rural areas.
Cllr David Merrett, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability said: “As one of the UK’s top cycling cities we are in prime position to lead the legacy work for Yorkshire, to build on this once in a lifetime opportunity to raise the profile of cycling in the region and ensure everyone has access to cycling as a safe, effective, cheap, healthy and enjoyable activity for commuting and leisure.
“The collective commitment to a cycling legacy for Yorkshire will secure strategic infrastructure and across the region that we could not realise by working on our own.”
The York Stage 2 start will begin in earnest on the city’s outer roads and will move on through Yorkshire’s visually stunning and technically challenging cycle route, confirming the county’s status as a world-class cycling destination to fans and billions of TV viewers worldwide.
The race will then move on to London before progressing to France. There, three weeks of racing will culminate in Paris and the winner will take the legendary Yellow Jersey, won in 2012 by Olympic gold medal-winning Bradley Wiggins and of course Chris Froome this year.
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