Council backing for skatepark revamp project

USERS of a popular skatepark in Bury St Edmunds will get financial support from St Edmundsbury Borough Council to match their ambitious fundraising efforts.

And the council is calling on other local public and private sector organisations to back the project which needs £300,000 to be fully completed. About 250 young people from across the town and wider borough area use the skatepark.

The council, which will help to finance up to half of the estimated cost of the project, will support the Bury Skate Park Experience group’s applications for grants.

The original wooden structure – state-of-the-art when it was built in 1999 – will be replaced by low-maintenance concrete, and users have been involved in planning the designs for the improved facilities.

Councillor Robert Everitt, cabinet member for Bury St Edmunds and children and young people at the borough council, said: “I am very happy that we will be investing in such a popular facility which is enjoyed by a huge number of young people. I am incredibly impressed by the way the users are all working together to raise funds and St Edmundsbury will be looking to match what they raise.”

It is expected that the skatepark in Olding Road will close over the winter to allow for demolition, with work on the new one starting in 2013.