Big Nailsea Skatepark reveal week

 

It was a big leap forward for Nailsea Skatepark Project with its 'big reveal' week.

On Thursday a Scotch Horn Centre meeting room was filled with young ‘wheelies’ and their young and not-so-young supporters to see the final  design for the new concrete skatepark.

And on Saturday to the backdrop sound of a blues band at the Ring O’Bells the draw was made to see who was going up in a helicopter or staying at a top city centre hotel - all donated prizes in the fundraising raffle.

With missing rivets and wonky welding health and safety inspectors had no choice last year but to condemn the original skateboard and scooter ramps built with Tesco money at the Millennium Park 14 years ago.

NSP original goal was to raise a total of £160,000 boosted by a £60,000 grant from Sport England.

But with £80,000 banked it was a huge blow when the group learned against tough competition they failed to get any investment from the national sporting body.

A modified design cut costs but this still gave NSP the mammoth task in the run up to Christmas 12-13 weeks to raise a further £20,000.

This was been achieved by numerous high profile fundraising events adding to monies already raised by the Tough As Nails cross country marathon organised by community policeman Mark Raby and Trendlewood Community Festival plus business, church, community and council grants.

Spokesman Phil Williams said: “There were two significant events in the history of the Nailsea Skatepark project last week, firstly there was a public meeting held where the preferred skatepark contractor was announced and initial plans shared, and secondly the grand raffle draw was made for the project, and initial calculations from the organisers confirmed that this raised approximately £1,000.

“With more than £100,000 raised towards the project there were some very strong contenders for the skatepark design, and after much deliberation and discussion with the team, Nailsea Town Council and North Somerset Council, the very experienced Wheelscape Skatepark builders were chosen, and tasked with confirming their initial plan designs.”

The brief was to ensure that there was a concrete park built with opportunities for beginners as well as those improving and indeed space for the top riders to fully utilise the space.

The brief also included disabled access to the park and this will be confirmed in Phase 2 of the designs.

And it was standing room only at the Scotch Horn Centre when Wheelscape design consultant Russ Heideman revealed on the big screen their plans, the logic, and the final proposals.

The room was full of skatepark users and other key members of the town including Nailsea Town Council, North Somerset Council, teachers, press, Nailsea Community Trust representatives the NSP team and other interested parties.

Russ said: "Our design has been extensively worked on with the local user group, they had put a lot of time and effort into design consultation before going out to tender to ensure they got the design that was right for them.

"The user group and comittee felt that our designer Matthew Popek had best captured what they had in mind and as a result Wheelscape were chosen to progress with the project."

The feedback was very positive from all involved in the process, so now a small group will liaise directly with Wheelscape to tweak the plans following feedback, before the final park designs will be announced and the contract awarded by North Somerset Council, said Phil.

After 18 months of hard work this is a major milestone for the project.

One of the fundraisers launched in early December was the grand raffle and the draw was made at the Ring O’Bells with live music provided by Lewis Clark and the Essentials and a final flurry of tickets being sold in the pub.

Phil said: “A huge thank you to all the sponsors and the prizes awarded including a helicopter ride, courtesy of Butterfly travel, hotel accommodation provided by Marriot hotels, tickets for Bristol City and a signed shirt donated by Bristol City Community Trust, Shiner skateboard products and vouchers for shops and restaurants in town including Gilly’s cafe, The Blue Room, Queenie’s flower shop, Noah’s Ark zoo farm, Ring O’Bells and more.”

“After all the work during the past 18 months, this week’s events make it all worthwhile.

“We still have quite a bit of work to do to finalise plans to make sure the park will be of a top class design that we can be proud of, for not just the town but the surrounding area, with the aim of ensuring it is completed in time for the Nailsea Community Skatepark festival and showcase on Saturday, July 9 this year.”

Once the tender has been signed off with the revised plans it is estimated the build will take weather permitting seven weeks and have a lifetime of more than 25 years.

Phil added; “On behalf of the whole team I want to thank our community, individuals and grant funders and all those that have showed amazing faith in the team and have donated in so many ways”

Raffle prize winners have been notified by phone but if you want to watch the 'live' draw click on the hilarious video below.

And there is still time to help.

To donate online click HERE or send cheques payable to ‘Nailsea Town Council’ marked for the Nailsea Skatepark Project to Tithe Barn, Church Lane, Nailsea, North Somerset, BS48 4NG.