![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/xWindmill-Wood-11-1054x1000.jpg.pagespeed.ic.iid7L_9Cto.jpg\")
The local politician shared this photo of the green area in the days after the Ulster Cyclocross Championships and questioned the need to run the events, in wet conditions, through the chosen route<\/p>\nThe local politician shared this photo of the green area in the days after the Ulster Cyclocross Championships and questioned the need to run the events, in wet conditions, through the chosen route<\/p>\n
A local politician in the North has said he will not be intimidated by \u201ccycling enthusiasts\u201d who he claims have \u201churled abuse\u201d at him after he made remarks about the impact of the recent Ulster Cyclocross Championships on a local park.<\/p>\n
The event was hosted by Island Wheelers \u2013 which organises a whole host of races, road and cyclocross, every year \u2013 at Windmill Wood, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on December 7th.<\/p>\n
The events threw up great racing in what were the most competitive provincial title races of the season and wet conditions on the day resulted in some sections of the park being cut up.<\/p>\n
However, while soil in venues is often adversely impacted by cyclocross races, it recovers quickly and the events bring a large number of people into the local areas.<\/p>\n
Cllr Clement Cuthbertson, a DUP representative in the Dungannon area, last week shared a photo of a section of the park, saying \u201cdaily users and walkers\u201d had contacted him to complain about the condition the park was in following the race.<\/p>\n
He said he could not understand why some green spaces were used for the event, especially as the forecast predicted wet conditions for the cyclists. His remarks were not welcomed by many and his Facebook page was flooded with comments.<\/p>\n
Many of those were from cyclists who pointed to the benefits of the races in bringing out lots of cyclists \u2013 from young children to Masters riders \u2013 for physical exercise and the benefits of the championship event for the local economy.<\/p>\n
But Cllr Cutherbertson has now replied, insisting he never said cyclists should not be permitted to use the park, adding he had made this clear in his initial remarks. He repeated that \u201cno one has any issue with the cycle tracks through the trees\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main concern relates to the single green area in the centre of the wood at the tower,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no need for this space to be cut up, particularly given the weather forecast at the time, which clearly indicated extremely wet conditions. This green area is enjoyed throughout the year by many as a play and picnic space.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the grass bank along Killymerron Park \u2013 which the Council has deemed too dangerous for its own staff to mow, requiring a third-party contractor to cut it once a year \u2013 was partially cut to allow bikes to cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing discussions with Council officers, I have been assured that lessons have been learned from this event and that better management will be in place going forward. All events are welcome in our public spaces; however, the rules that apply to others \u2013 such as teams hiring council pitches \u2013 must be applied fairly and consistently to everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will always speak up for this area and seek to improve our facilities. To the cycling enthusiasts, from what I can see are not from the Dungannon area, who felt it appropriate to hurl abuse at me both privately and publicly on this platform: you clearly do not know me. I will never be intimidated from representing the people of the Dungannon area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The local politician shared this photo of the green area in the days after the Ulster Cyclocross Championships…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-363753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}