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@plurien
Absoilutely agree with anyone who's on here to digest and think about ways to contribute to the debate. All comments are welcome, as long as you're prepared to actually do stuff before you just turn up and ride!
There's a lot of 'churn' in the people who are committed to cycle sport at any one time. This is totally normal and I would like to think I remember how it was my first time at Eastway with my then 8 or 9 year-old son, when my jaw dropped to discover such a stunning place that was so little known. I would want to have been heard then, if the circuit was to be demolished because that's where we learned the most about riding and the fun of all the different disciiplines.
The second that velodrome opens there will be lots more new people along and they all need to have a say in what could be put on for people to take part. There possibly should not be too much place for the 'way things were' because that wasn't always terribly successful or inclusive. (We're not all rose-tinted here...)
Organisers and promoters should have to fight their corner to be be the best, but if they are simply having to compete against things like corporate days, elite national squad block-outs or 'Etape intensive training' on track or road circuit, it's obvious they won't have the money.
Couple more thoughts:-
Gravesend CycloPark's biggest earner is the StreetSkate area, then it's the BMX, then the road and MTB trails.- Largely inverse relation with the building costs.
In terms of revenues serving the capital assets, it's hard to see how you can make a £120m+ velodrome hit payback unless you work the public seating for all it's worth, which means a range of events in the schedule that will bring a degree of disruption to participatory sessions. The intention now is to keep the velodrome just for cycling events and to take the capital cost on the chin, but who's to know what could happen as finances later come under scrutiny?