Company releases first skate park design as council seeks permission

THE first design for a brand-new skate park in Lancing has been released.
Freestyle Skateparks design for a skate park on Beach Green, LancingFreestyle Skateparks design for a skate park on Beach Green, Lancing
Freestyle Skateparks design for a skate park on Beach Green, Lancing

Lancing Parish Council is now looking to submit a planning application to Adur District Council in the next couple of weeks.

Jazz Hardy, 11, of Monks Close, Lancing, has been campaigning for a skate park in the village along with his friend Charlie, 13, of Third Avenue, Lancing.

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He said: I’m just happy it’s going ahead and we won’t always be getting kicked out of everywhere now. In Lancing there’s literally nowhere (to skate). We have got to pay to get Shoreham and Worthing.”

Beach Green has been chosen as the ideal location for the skate park.

During a discussion at last Wednesday’s Lancing Parish Council meeting, councillors said that the contour of the site lent itself to the profile of a skate park and could be designed to cater for skaters, boarders and BMX bikers.

Councillors pointed out that it would be close to toilet and refreshment facilities, and was sufficiently away from residential property to cause minimal disturbances.

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The site was found to be close enough to bus routes and the railway station to make it easy to access. A nearby car park means parents would also be able to drop off and pick up their children safely.

Both good security and visibility were cited by councillors as reasons to choose the site, and it was found to ‘fit the accepted concepts of the Lancing Vision and the Beach Green Scoping Study’.

Jazz’s dad Trevor, 44, praised the council for its attitude towards the project.

He said: “It (the meeting) was really proactive and they want to do something which is great.

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“They were quite keen to make it a bit of a healthy living area with the gym, café and skate park. You have got quite a bit of passing traffic there so it makes it quite safe from anti-social behaviour. The more people passing by the better.”

Reaction to the design has been largely positive.

One post on the Lancing Needs a Skate Park Facebook page read: ‘Great design. Loads of different ramps and rails. The kids will have hours of fun( and odd injury!) So pleased the council are so behind this. Wouldn’t worry about objections – u can’t please everyone. 100% behind this and it’s location. Exciting times for the kids in lancing- worth the wait.’

While another user said: ‘The skate park design looks great can’t wait till its built.’

However, not all residents are as impressed by the design.

One posted: ‘Not being funny but no point building anything like that, if you’re going to build a skate park do it properly with real ramps not this, it is a joke really’.

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The council contacted Freestyle Skateparks after finding out about them through Lucy Adams, Adur and Worthing councils’ active communities officer and a sponsored skateboarder.

Colin Hunt, Lancing Parish Council’s clerk, said: “They are a national company and have done more than 300 sites in the country.

“They are quite established and resourceful.

“We gave the company four alternatives. Beach Green was head and shoulders above all the others.”

The council could have pushed ahead with the project without seeking planning permission but opted not to as it wanted to be ‘transparent and open’.

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Mr Hunt said the council would conduct more consultations with various agencies and residents as the project moved forward.

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