Northampton skate park ‘still has the council’s support’
THE LEADERS of Northampton Borough Council have pledged that a world class skate park will still be built in the town, despite having to move the proposed site of the development slightly.
Plans to build the £250,000 skate park in Midsummer Meadows, off Bedford Road, were due to be approved by the council’s planning committee next month.
But earlier this week, the leaders of the council revealed the scheme would be delayed by up to two months because the skate park would now have to be built on a new site, 50 metres further along Bedford Road.
The announcement led to concern among the town’s skating community that the money the council has pledged for the development could be scrapped.
But during a meeting of the council’s cabinet last night, the leader of the authority, Councillor David Mackintosh (Con, Rectory Farm) pledged that he wanted to get the skate park built as quickly as possible.
Addressing a group of skaters who attended the meeting, he said: “I understand your frustrations, but we’re all working to get this worked out as quickly as possible.
“I hope we can start to move forwards constructively now, because we’re all trying to do what’s right, both for the skaters and for the rest of the town. None of us wanted this delay.”
The pledge to push ahead with the project was welcomed by the secretary of the Northampton Skate Park Action Group, Jill Pickard.
She said: “We’re grateful for the funding the council has given us and the land that’s been earmarked for us, we’re just incredibly frustrated that the skate park is now going to be moved and delayed.
“There’s been such a lot of collaboration with the council and everybody has been incredibly supportive, so we don’t really see why this change has happened.
“But if it’s going to move, as it’s likely it will, we hope we can now be more involved with the council in the discussions about the site.”
The council has said the location of the skate park has been changed because part of the land it was due to be built on will now be swallowed up by plans to create a new entrance to the nearby Nunn Mills development site, where there are plans to build up to 2,000 houses, a number of shops, offices and a new primary school.
The leaders of the authority have also said they are keen to protect the green space alongside the River Nene where the park was due to be built.
It is expected that plans for the relocated park will go before the council’s planning committee in April with the park expected to be built by September.
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Comments
There are 21 comments to this article
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suckmyhelmet
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 01:31 PMTIM HALDAND IS AN OVERPAID CROOK. IF THE ABOVE COMMENTS ARE TRUE, HOW CAN HE BE ALLOWED TO DO THIS???
Tony Clarke
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 04:28 PMand Sixfields cost £5.2m not £12m Pam, same old Lib Dems always exaggerating!
Pam Varnsverry
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 10:10 AMMy apolagies I should have pointed out that letters of support can also be submitted and will be considered at the planning committee hearing........ start writing
Pam Varnsverry
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 10:08 AMPaul Canfield and others. I am responding to a posting from the Skatepark facebook. ALL objections to the plans must be written objections so they can be included in the working file which in turn puts those objections in the public domain for all interested parties to read and ensure there consideration at by the members of the planning committee given the need for openness and transparency in these matters. This planning application is listed for a planning committee desicion NOT delegated officer decision. Not just one councillor. The Nunn Mills Road development has outline planning permission and has done so for a number of years. There are two very large boxes of the proposed plans available should anyone care to trawl through them as I have done in the past due to an earlier challenge to the Borough Council planning due process. I am horrified at the cavalier attitude displayed to this group of enthusiastic people who are clearly driven by a passion for their chosen sport leisure activity. I also challenge the comments that many do not support this application as there are NO objections with-in the working file merely comments such as Avon who raised concerns around litter and policing when the skate-park was in use. There has been much publicity surrounding this project and two very public consultations at which stage these objections could and should have been raised. Any late objections needed to be brought to the planning committee for consideration. There is a posted deadline for written objections of the 26th January 2012 so no one needed to miss the boat. The two words which stand out for me from the working file are catalyst and enhance this was an excellant project which has now been tarnished by inappropiate action. Good luck
Pam Varnsverry
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 12:59 PMPacifist at 7. There are many sports and leisure activities too many to list here that recieve taxpayers help to pump prime there startup cost's. Which provide well for the local youngsters in Northampton and shire. All should be given as much assistance as possible by the councils. Do you feel then that the Sixfields stadium home currently to the Cobblers and Rugby & Northampton Athletics club should not have recieved £12 Million at start-up? That Northampton is not worthy of being considered for an Olympic sized swimming pool.? White water rafting centre and the Sea Cadets? I could go on.
poolhog
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 08:41 PMInteresting comments Pam .... someone should investigate and challenge, seems more to this than meets the eye.
PaulCanfield
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 11:14 AMwhat people are failing to see is that for all of you moaners out there saying about £250,000 how much !!!! this is a very small price to pay for getting Northampton back on track,the bigger the skatepark the better as the attention and much needed growth for the town will be highlighted through this,If you want a business to succeed everyone knows it pays to advertise and as it has been stated in the past this will put northampton back on the map-lets not also forget the bmx-ing is now a olympic sport and will only get bigger from here on in-Northampton needs to expand and refresh it's image lets face it how many of us that can now go to milton keynes? nobody would want to if we had what we needed right here? old fashioned spirit and team work is needed and we can all have what we would like !!!
HOS
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 11:10 AMI would trust those council guys about as far as I could skate on loose gravel.
Pam Varnsverry
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 12:23 AMSlashgrind. Thank you for picking up on my earlier comments. Having read through the working file for the skate park planning application (the one which Councillor Hadland has prematurely withdrawn) at the Guildhall today, this has revealed a number of issues. (1) A public notice in the Herald & Post on Thursday January 12th calls it a "major development", yet the application form calls it a minor development. (2) The Site History & Constraints report omits the public right of way. (3) The Skatepark Consultation Statement states the original site for the skatepark "Fits with Policy andor Masterplan for the area and the relationship with surrounding land use." (4) The Sustainability Assessment states "This element of redevelopment of the site will allow a high quality leisure activity to be created that will be the catalyst to the enhancements planned through the Nene Meadows Masterplan." (5) The Design and Access Statement states at clause 1.2.1 (Environmental Implications) "There are no known environmental implications for the construction of the skatepark except the loss in this phase of 1,110 m2 of recreational grass field." [previous use: illegal car park - so grass eroded]. (6) Clause 2.3.2 "The location of the site has been chosen for a number of reasons... Development and expansion of the Midsummer Meadow Carpark moved site eastwards so no conflict with future construction." (7) Clause 3.2 (Inclusive Access) "The Access Road (already present on site) is an existing public right of way" [see also 2, above). Looking at the explanations which Councillors Hadland has given for the premature withdrawal of the planning application and the proposal to move the site location by 50 metres, none of his reasons are valid by his own officers’ reports. I hope this is helpful.
Slashgrind
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 11:15 PMCOME ON NBC PUBLISH THESE PLANS FOR THE NEW ENTRANCE TO NUNNS MILLS ............. AT THE OPPOSITE END OF MIDSUMMERS MEADOW FROM THE PROPOSED SKATEPARK ............. LETS SEE HOW IT AFFECTS THE MEADOW ..... AT LEAST THE SKATEPARK WOULD ENSURE THE MEADOW IS USED ALL YEAR BY US SKATERS, RATHER THAN THE DOGGERS AND OTHER DUBIOUS CHARACTERS THAT USE THE MEADOW NOW.
Slashgrind
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:58 PMHow gratetfull we skaters must be to the council for their total incompetence in spending 2 years to find a location, then 2 weeks before planning deciding they don't know their R's from their elbow and withdrawing planning that they placed because of Nunns Mill Development, which was known about way before any discussion took place about the skatepark, so how can 2 weeks before planning they suddennly remember about it ? then in the next statement say its to save the greenery of midsummers meadow .... so they relocate the skaters to ANOTHER GREEN PART OF MIDSUMMER MEADOW , ...... Dohhh !!!!!!!! ......... I smell a rat, i also smell a threat of shut up or we take your money away .... The Mafia is well and truly alive in Northampton .... all wearing blue suits .
kingsthorpelass
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 08:55 PMrich this is the problem some people wont want to come and meet the people who will use the park because unfortunately some people have them all down as hooligans and hoodies. This is without realising a lot will be people in their 20's with jobs and who havent been in trouble at all
Rich1988
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 08:25 PMFootball annoys me why are there football pitches, tennis annoys me why are there tennis courts..... each to there own pacifist. Im a rollerblader have been for 7 years its annoying its being moved around again but if you know the history of the sports and the previous skate park radlands you would see the dedication people have for these kind of sports. When its done feel free to pop down and meet the people and see what its all about. :)
lady muck
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 08:05 PMPacifist...it only annoys me when it's done in Abington Street. Once the skatepark is built, my annoyance will cease and the skateboarders will be happy too. That's a good result, isn't it ?
Pacifist
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 05:57 PMSo, the Council are paying for it through tax payers money BUT rather than be grateful they are moaning about a minor delay. It is all wrong....why are these people being rewarded for carrying out an activity that annoys people. What next?
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