Decision details

The petitioner, Mr Jack Collins, had the following statement read out on his behalf;

“My name is Jack Collins and I am 11 years old and I live in Galmington. I love scooting, riding my BMX and skating with my friends, we don’t have any skate parks near us and have to go to Hamilton and other places to skate. I would really love it if we could have some ramps put into one of the parks in Galmington so we don’t have to travel.  All of my friends, all of their friends and people who live in Galmington have signed the petition and would really love to have a skate park here too, lots of people have also said they would be happy to help with looking after it and keeping it clean and tidy.  Some people have also said they would sponsor it too, if we needed the money.There are lots of parks here where we can play football but not much else, there is lots of space in the Gill Crescent Park and the Galmington playing fields.Please help us to get some ramps, we will look after it and it will help us practise and it will get used lots.”

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       The Portfolio Holder for Sports, Parks and Leisure thanked the petitioner for his tremendous efforts in trying to get a Skate Park in his area. The Portfolio Holder would like to see this moved forward and proposed a resolution that this issue be further investigated. There were issues the petitioner was aware of, such as costs/funding and the location.

·       This was supported but the need for a timeframe to return was also suggested.

·       Ward Councillors commented positively on the determined efforts of the petitioner since his contact with them in June. They had contacted officers and the Portfolio Holder to try and identify the best way of achieving this goal. They had asked the petitioner and his family to identify a park, set up an action group and evidence the support in the community, identify where the funding was going to come from, work with the parish and ward councillors to seek support, and finally for a feasibility study to include management and safety standards. They encouraged councillors to support this grassroots initiative. Officers were encouraged to look at Government or sector support.

·       Contact with the Friends of Galmington Playing Fields was suggested.

·       A resident had raised a concern over proximity to housing due to the noise issues.

·       This issue would need to be raised with the Trustees of the Galmington Playing Field.

·       A suggestion was made for SWT to investigate pop-up skating facilities during the summer holidays in the meantime whilst a more permanent solution was investigated.

RESOLVED to refer the matter for further investigation, requesting officers to return within six months with further detail on the proposals.