Controversial new Brighton skate park is given Olympic funding

8:48am Thursday 24th January 2013 in News

Work to revamp The Level Work to revamp The Level

A controversial skate park has cleared its last funding hurdle – thanks to a £150,000 Olympic legacy grant.

Opinion was split when Brighton and Hove City Council announced it wanted to relocate the facility in The Level.

With work on the skate park due to start next week, the local authority has confirmed it has received the six-figure funding boost from Sport England.

Pete West, the chairman of the council’s environment committee, said he was “absolutely delighted” at the news.

The new skate park is part of a wider £2.7million redevelopment of the open space between Ditchling and Lewes roads.

Coun West said: “There has been a skate ramp at The Level since the 1970s, so it is part of the park’s heritage, but the old facilities have been in poor condition for many years and needed replacing.

“The sunken nature of the skate park means we will retain the open character of the northern part of The Level and keep its historic layout.”

Planning permission for the skate park was granted by the local authority’s planning committee in August.

Opinion among locals was split at the time, with some claiming it would become an important community resource while others questioned the loss of open space.

The skate park has been funded separately through a combination of council funding, developer contributions and grants, including £50,000 from Veolia Environmental Trust.

Designed and built by Freestyle Skateparks, it will be made out of concrete and sunk into the ground to the north of the Rose Walk.

Lighting, seating, bins, cycle racks and signs will also be installed.

The former skate park will become a sensory garden.

See the latest news headlines from The Argus:

More news from The Argus

Follow @brightonargus

Daily Echo on Facebook - facebook.com/southerndailyecho Like us on Facebook

Google+ Add us to your circles on Google+

Comments(11)

ARealBessie says...
10:02am Thu 24 Jan 13

'Opinion among locals' was NOT 'split at the time' (as the 3 000 strong local petition demonstrated) but has been overwhelmingly hostile to these plans from the outset (and NOT 'overwhelmingly for' the proposal as the council and Pete West repeatedly claim.)
What utter lying shysters.
The only interest groups within the community who will benefit from the huge new skate park are people interested in wheeled sports, their business backers, and 'interested 3rd parties'.
This 'redevelopment' has never been about the 'environment', or 'heritage', or what the community wanted. It's only ever been about the money.
The whole things is rotten to the core. It really is.

Report this post »

PJW Brighton says...
10:51am Thu 24 Jan 13

As the father of two local children (living within a few hundred metres of the Level) who, along with their friends are eagerly waiting for the new skatepark to open, I can say that hostility is not overwhelming in the area. Opinions seem to be evenly divided. It is good, however, to see the Green led Council bringing even more funds into the area at a time when Government funding is being cut.

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
10:58am Thu 24 Jan 13

Like I said, only people with an interest in wheeled sports will benefit from this development.

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
11:00am Thu 24 Jan 13

Sorry, I meant to add... 'and their business backers and 3rd interested parties'.

Report this post »

PJW Brighton says...
11:17am Thu 24 Jan 13

ARealBessie wrote:
Like I said, only people with an interest in wheeled sports will benefit from this development.
Quite a lot of people have an interest in wheeled sports I think; a few more make a living from them (myself not included). I have met few people with hostility to them to the extent that they object to around 10% of the area of a park being set aside for them.

Report this post »

Cycling commuter says...
3:04pm Thu 24 Jan 13

What is the issue with 'wheeled sport'? Some people talk about it like riding a bike or skating is the work of the devil?

Just look at the popularity of the new skate facility in Shoreham and you will see this keeps children off the streets, away from watching t and doing exercise. How can this be seen as a negative?

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
3:58pm Thu 24 Jan 13

PJW Brighton wrote:
ARealBessie wrote:
Like I said, only people with an interest in wheeled sports will benefit from this development.
Quite a lot of people have an interest in wheeled sports I think; a few more make a living from them (myself not included). I have met few people with hostility to them to the extent that they object to around 10% of the area of a park being set aside for them.
Perhaps you're new to this debate?

Nobody objected to the skate park taking up 10% of The Level in it's old location. The objection is the skate park being built smack bang in the center - In a conservation area on one of Brighton's last remaining open greens (traditionally used and enjoyed by all not just a few).

For those of us with no interest in 'wheeled sports' (young girls, dog walkers, the elderly, picnickers, pedestrians, footballers etc) there will be no way of escaping the d@mned thing.

In short, we've all lost out just so your little Jonny and Freddie can practice backflips alongside skate boarding aficionado's who can't be fagged to go to Shoreham, or any other of BHC's 6 concrete skate parks - Hardly what I would call an equitable trade-off.

Report this post »

Jetsamandflotsam says...
7:58pm Thu 24 Jan 13

ARealBessie, local opinion was indeed split but you anti lot point blank refuse to believe that a lot of locals fully support the scheme.
I am however a bit concernerned about the new lakes that have formed on the eastern side of the level. The ground drainage wasn't that poor before the contractors rotorvated the area.
What has happened and how will it be resolved?

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
9:09pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Hate to break it to you, but a split between wheeled sports fans and the majority of other user groups isn't the same thing as a 'split in local opinion' I'm afraid. Whilst its true that skaters/BMX-ers are a large interest group, the fact remains they are only one interest group out of many others. And, when you start adding up all those other interest groups (at whose expense this skate park is coming at), I think you'll find the skaters/BMX-ers are very much in the minority.
As far as the new lake goes, I'd be interested to know what engineering feet the council are going to have to perform to stop the new skate park from turning into The Level's new swimming bowl. That's what happened to the last one which is why it was filled in and replaced with wooden ramps.

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
9:16pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Oh, on the subject of engineering and excavations etc, it might interest you to know that despite 4 separate FoI requests, the council refused to release the results of the ground surveys.

Report this post »

Jetsamandflotsam says...
12:14pm Fri 25 Jan 13

I hate to break it to you, but I am not a practicing wheeled sport fan whatever that may be, but do fit fit in to the huge group of other local level users that can't see a problem with the upgrading of the Level.
The new skate area is only very marginally bigger than the old one was and there is plenty of space for everybody to share.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree