New twist over gorge bike park
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Workers on an exclusive Wakefield mountain bike park that has been linked to a secretive United States billionaire will be at a loose end when the company employed to construct the trails folds next month.
Forty-six Nelson contractors will not have their contracts renewed by Rotorua-based New Zealand Trail Solutions after June 25.
NZTS owner Jeff Carter said the company's main client asked them to stop building the trails in the Wairoa Gorge.
The same client has requested NZTS' projects in Australia, Canada, Chile, Portugal and Jamaica be shut down.
The order affects about 80 workers worldwide, and means NZTS will have to close down.
The company has been constructing 75 kilometres of private mountain bike trails in the Wairoa Gorge near Wakefield since 2010.
The 303-hectare block of land was purchased for $550,000 by an American-owned company named RHL Ltd in 2010. The Overseas Investment Office refused to reveal the identity of the foreign owner to the Nelson Mail to protect their privacy.
The park has opened to the public for one day only in the years following the land's purchase, with 200 riders taking part in an event there in January.
Mr Carter would not name the client, but said they were originally planning to take on NZTS contractors following the construction phase of each track, but decided against this in March.
The Mail understands the client is the secretive Global Conservation Mountain Biking Club, which has been linked to American billionaire Ken Dart, known to be an enthusiastic mountain biker.
Speculation has been rife that Mr Dart, an heir to the company that makes Styrofoam cups, may have been involved with the purchase of the Wairoa Gorge site.
Little information is available about GCMBC, which appears to be invite-only, but its website describes it as "joining the enthusiasm and passion of truly dedicated mountain bikers and the willingness of private land owners to create a portfolio of world class single track mountain bike trails on gem properties around the globe".
GCMBC's website says the company owns trails in the same countries that NZTS builds, as well as Mexico. Details on the site are sketchy, with the trails' locations not provided.
Mr Carter refused to comment on these points.
Fewer than 10 workers from the Wairoa Gorge site will be taken on by another company to carry out maintenance on the Nelson track after the end of their NZTS contract. Mr Carter said he was not yet sure of this company's identity.
"I think the guys are really proud of what we've done here in building an amazing mountain bike park," he said.
"They love building the trail, it's a dream job for most of them, and we'll be putting our effort into the last month to make sure we keep building amazing stuff right through to the end."
The Wairoa Gorge site has been described as "Disneyland for mountain bikers" by the few members of the public allowed to ride there.
Built mainly by hand, the trail is usually open only to the construction crew, who are employed to test the tracks as well as create them.
It was opened for what might be the first and only time in January for the Dodzy Memorial Enduro Mountain Bike race.
Just 200 riders were allowed to participate by invitation or application in the event, which honoured James "Dodzy" Dodds, shareholder and co-director of NZTS.
A Rotorua resident and respected member of the mountain biking community, Mr Dodds was shot dead by his friend Henry Worsp in a hunting accident in September last year.
He had been involved with the project in the Wairoa Gorge since mid-2010.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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