A DOWNHILL mountain biking project near Tavistock which has almost quadrupled its membership in two years is about to ride into a new phase of development.

West Devon Borough Council has agreed to contribute £10,000 towards the £116,000 scheme to build another track at Gawton Woods, provide on-site facilities and employ a development worker, providing match funding comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund and planning permission is approved.

It will add to the three mountain biking tracks already constructed at the site thanks to a partnership between the Woodland Riders and the £7-million Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project, which is investing in heritage, conservation and access in the Tamar Valley.

Secretary of Woodland Riders Nick Cleaver said that since 2008 the club had increased from 90 members to 320, between the ages of 16 and 30, and was effectively hitting the point of maximum with its present set up.

'It is getting to the stage where it is difficult to run it now as purely an amateur club,' said Mr Cleaver.

'We now need a development officer to move the club into a higher level of professionalism and increase the usage of the site.'

A wooden cabin adjacent to the car park would provide shelter, storage, toilet facilities, space for sale of refreshments and orientation facilities for visitors.

As well as overseeing the build, the development worker would co-ordinate other capital works and develop the woodland riders as a social enterprise, finding ways to supplement the group's income and promote the site to new audiences, particularly female riders and disadvantaged groups.

The fourth track would bridge the gap between the moderate and the difficult tracks.

Six different organisations are involved in funding the new project, including Woodland Riders themselves. The borough council agreed to award money from its Greater Dartmoor LEAF match fund budget.

Borough councillors were told at a recent meeting that the market for downhill mountain biking was considerable — in the South West alone there were 800,000 mountain bikers of whom 184,000 were enthusiasts.

Until the opening of the trails at Gawton Woods the most challenging routes in the South West were in Somerset. Gawton Woods, therefore, opened Devon and Cornwall to an under-served market, said council officers.

The woodland riders also manage a range of trails at Devon Great Consols (Tavistock Woodlands).