DECISION TO REPLACE 2-DECADE OLD SKATEPARK IN EAST COWES A ‘NO BRAINER’

A near 10-year campaign to replace a ‘dated’ skatepark in East Cowes could soon be successful. East Cowes Town Council agreed on Thursday evening (22nd March) to apply for a loan from the government’s public works loan board to fund the replacement of equipment at its skatepark on Vectis Road. The council said the 20-year-old facility is now ‘very dated’ and causes ‘significant’ limitations to the wheeled sports that can be done there and the skills that can be learnt. The surface around the ramps is ‘very rough and uneven’ with the metal ramps themselves said to have a higher degree of risk due to it being a ‘less grippy’ surface, dented and extremely hot in the summer. The current park was also said to be inaccessible for a variety of users, and not designed for them. Calls for a new skatepark first arose in 2015, and with the need for outdoor areas highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the town council consulted East Cowes residents in 2021 to see if the work would be agreeable. More than 150 responses were received with a ‘clear desire’ for new facilities for the community. Instead of the metal ramps, the town council is looking to build a facility for beginners and more experienced riders to enjoy the site with ‘fun bumps’, stairs, ramps and banks made out of concrete. The town council is looking to borrow £100,000 from the government — £15,000 for final designs to be drawn up and £85,000 to build it — over the next 22 years. If accepted, the council would pay around £7,800 a year and it said it “does not intend to increase” the amount residents pay for the purpose of repaying the loan. One concern from a town resident said it would be ‘foolhardy’ for the council to tie itself into a long loan when the length of the loan would outlast the skatepark. Councillor Cameron Palin said the current skatepark has lasted 10 years longer than first thought and the concrete skatepark proposed would last a lot longer. Councillor Stephen Hendry said the lifespan of a concrete skatepark was at least 20 years, and no maintenance costs would have to be paid on it as it currently has to with the existing skatepark, so replacing it was a ‘no brainer’. Councillor Holly Irwin said there was a growing community around the skatepark and an ongoing need for the facilities.