Going on from Crazy Legs post, does anyone have any experience of where to start getting the council to think about building such a resource.

Haven’t ever given it much thought but we’ve got a huge playing field in the middle of Pembroke which is currently very lush grass (lots of canine fertiliser!) and nowt else.

There is an established community group in town and I see a fair amount of kids around on boards/BMXs/trial bikes etc so I think it would be popular and I’d love something for purely selfish reasons (me and the kids!)

So where do is start? Any ideas/resources etc would be gratefully received!

Ta

Start with a petition from the kids for the council to consider building one. These parks don’t come cheap, so you need plenty of local support.

attend plenty of local police/council forum meetings, identify that there is a need for the park based on trouble with youths or anti socila behaviour.
there is still plenty money out there look at community fund projects from the like of shell, tesco, big banks etc
you really need to prove that it will be of benefiot to as many people as you can, for example will it keep the local streets fre from bikes, skate boards, will it move kids off the street
the local council usually has an officer who is an expert in fund raising for the community, he wont do it for you but will pont u in the right direction
also be prepared for a long haul, i got a skatepark for a group of local kids took 2.5 years of hard work

in my experience, you will have to do all the hard work for the council, and then let them take the praise when its finished.
so dont think you can ask the council and they will do the rest.do all the homework, all the calling round, get quotes for building the facility, then hand all your hard work to the councillors and let them take the credit. its a small pay off when you see the finished article

Set up a Facebook group to show how much support there is, very easy and very visible.

in my experience, you will have to do all the hard work for the council, and then let them take the praise when its finished.

you said it. penzance has one of the best bowls in the UK because of me and my freind, and we did’nt even get invited to the opening ceremony.

that asides, is the area any where near a council estate? if so it is very likely there will be a huge community fund and that is a good source.

if you do get the wheels moving DO YOUR RESEARCH as to what is available and what can be achieved. there are some really dubiuos manufactureres out there supplying sub-standard ramps etc at ridiculous prices. when i was working on penzance, in my own village and unbeknown to me, a half pipe was erected that is so bad and so unsafe its unskateable (4ft wide, raised seams, built not only on a slope but on the side of a slope with no leveling). it cost twice what i could get a high quality skater designed and built half pipe for.

my advice though is to look at concrete, bowls and importantly flow. do not be swayed by the kids saying they want street as generally they know no different. you need to educate them as to what can be achieved in a skatepark. again in penzance all we got at first was 1/4 pipe this and driveway that. we spent hours showing the kids US parks and now, a few years on, the park has nurtured some amazing skaters.

of course you could always go for some pump tracks instead, shaped mud is much cheaper and less to object to!

if you go for dirt ramps, check out CTC’s Bike Club initiative, they can actually give out money for cycle orientated clubs.