Over 6000 people have signed the petition of the Good Party that seeks to speed up the process of restoring the Bellville Velodrome to a fully functional standard.

The political party called for the City to restore the facility and to also give a detailed cost breakdown of what the project will cost to finish.

The petition was started on Thursday November 14 following the response that the party received, from Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, on Wednesday October 30.

The mayor revealed in his written response that the total projected costs for the restoration of the existing facility are currently approximately R300 million.

He said in the 2023/24 financial year, out of the R8.3 million budget provision, R3.3 million was spent on minor upgrades and improvements that were identified to be very important and the rest of the money was re-prioritised to other projects in the recreation and parks department.

Some of the upgrades included servicing of fire hydrants and hose reels, emergency signage repairs, installation of a new generator, new electrical wiring/cables, and upgrades of the internal lights, such as replacing bulbs with LEDs.

He said there were currently no further planned capital works at the Velodrome, due to technical studies and legal advice that were required to inform the future of the facility.

Northern News previously reported that an international cycling tournament which was scheduled for March this year was postponed so that the City can complete repairs to the facility.

Patricia van der Ross, mayoral committee member for community services and health, told Northern News that the City entered into a transaction with a developer in 2009 for the redevelopment of the Bellville Velodrome site.

“As a result of a contractual dispute and conclusion of an arbitration process in 2023, the City undertook to cancel the transaction,” she added.

She said opportunities for public engagement about the future of the facility will be communicated in due course.

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