Support the Tour of Britain

On its website the Tour of Britain boasts of being the country’s biggest professional cycling race and Britain’s biggest live sporting event.
This year’s race was bigger again, and preparations have started for the 2009 edition which will run for eight days in September.
Somerset County Council wants the race to go through Wells, Glastonbury and Street because it would bring business here and coverage in the national media.
This seems a wise and timely initiative, as interest in competitive cycling has grown sharply following the remarkable success of the British team during the Olympic Games in China this summer.
Thousands of spectators are expected to watch the 96 cyclists, and would spend money here. We can also be sure of heightened interest from the television companies, whose broadcasts would feature background images of the Somerset countryside.
Cycling also should be encouraged because it is effective in countering obesity and reducing carbon emissions.
Bearing all this in mind, the attitude in some of our councils is short-sighted and disappointing. The councils in Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet were asked if they would pay the £5,000 which the Tour of Britain organisers require to route the races through any town.
Shepton Mallet and Wells took only a few minutes to say no, while Glastonbury has yet to decide but several councillors showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
Of course, money remains tight, and the racers would cycle quickly through our patch. But £5,000 is not a king’s ransom, while Somerset’s tourism industry and other businesses will need all the help they can get as the recession bites in 2009.
Philip Welch