£350,000 plans for new Weymouth skatepark approved
Dorset Council have given the go ahead for the new skate park at The Marsh
Skaters will be spinning a 360 with news that a new £350,000 skate park for Weymouth’s Marsh playing fields has been approved.
The skatepark and parkour area will be developed by Weymouth town council and built by a Poole specialist company on the Knightsdale Road site where there was once a long jump pit and running track.
A new crushed stone path will lead to the site from the car park and earth bunds added around the perimeter of the site.
The parkour area will be placed on rubber-based safety surface, with a series of concrete blocks leading to a number of linked galvanised steel swing bars with a second set incorporated into concrete running walls.
The town council say they would like the facility to become a family attraction and, as with the Dorchester skate park, is expected to be used not only by skaters but by BMX riders and scooters as well.
It says both the skatepark design and the parkour design meet with the guidelines set down by the respective governing bodies and is aimed at all ages and abilities.
At the application stage the town council produced documents which suggests that the facilities are likely to cut down on anti-social behaviour based on the experience of other areas.
Said town councillor Alex Fuhrmann: “This has been the most popular and well supported project on social media I’ve ever had feedback on since becoming a councillor. On our consultation a young person mentioned to me “I’m only allow on The Marsh to play out, so with this here I can become a professional skater now!” Before the project has begun, we are already raising the aspirations of young people, imagine the effect when it is completed.”
Dozens of people wrote to Dorset Council in support of the application with only two objections, raising concerns about noise and traffic and fearing that the facility could increase anti-social behaviour.
A planning officer, who decided the application, said that nearest homes were unlikely to suffer additional disturbance, given the distance, and highways officials had not raised any concerns about additional traffic.