GREEN AYRE SKATEPARK - LANCASTER

The project involved the provision of a Skatepark in Lancaster. Nothing innovative in itself as a number of local authorities throughout the Country is doing exactly the same.

However, what does make this project unique is that the young people from within the Lancaster district undertook the design, procurement and the supervision of the construction of the facility. Lancaster City Council's Leisure Services involvement was to undertake a support and advisory role.

Background

For some time Lancaster City Council was aware that street skating in public places engages two schools of though. The term street skating, is used generically and includes;- skateboarding, in-line skating, roller-blading, roller hockey, roller-skating, slalom skaters, speed skaters and BMX (mountain bikes), etc. For some the activity is a legitimate sporting pursuit, whilst for others, it is seen as a public nuisance and danger. Irrespective of the merits of the two schools of thought, the common element relates to the location more than the activities.

The current interest in street skating is embraced within youth culture, attracting large numbers of participants from a wide age range. Street skating has become much more widely established, through the development of governing bodies or associations, which in turn has led to the entry of sports goods and equipment manufactures into the market. The latter has had an influence on the development of competitions which in turn has attracted some media coverage (particularly niche television channels). The current interest in street skating appears more sustainable and as such unlikely to be a passing "fad".

As an integral part of youth culture, street skating does not fit into the traditional model of sports. Street skating is seen as part of the developing "extreme" sports movement (which include activities such as bungee-jumping, white-water rafting and snow-boarding, etc.), where performance is an integral part of participation. Part of the performance is reflected in the clothing and music that accompanies street skating, but more so in the "demonstration" of performance through skills and tricks. There is very much a desire in street skating to be seen.

Potentially it is the demonstration and performance element of street skating that leads to the greatest degree of conflict with those who see the activities as a public nuisance and a danger. In the absence of facilities many street skaters have adopted parts of the built environment, such as pavements, slopes, steps, and railings, etc. - which again leads to conflict.

Approach

From the emerging situation Lancaster City Council decided to adopt an "engagement" as opposed to "enforcement" approach to resolving street skating. The Council's Chief Leisure Officer, David Owen started meeting with individuals and groups who were involved in street skating, as well as liaising with a number of other parties who had shown an interest in street skating, such as Leisure Services, the Chamber of Trade, the Police, Youth and Community Services, etc., as well as some who had expressed concern or opposition.

From those meetings and discussions with other local authorities and skatepark operators a picture started to emerge as to why such initiatives had failed in the past, summarised as;-

• Wrong type of ramps (outdoor timber ramps are exposed to weather damage and vandalism)
• Poorly design ramps (skaters need to be involved in the design to make sure it incorporates the latest features)
• Wrong location (too far and/or expensive to travel to. They need to be visible - to avoid vandalism)
• They were not "managed" and there was no budget to deal with repairs and maintenance

Arising from the above, a group of street skaters in Lancaster who skate on and around the monument to Queen Victoria in Dalton Square put forward a scheme seeking support to establish a series of ramps and other features that could accommodate street skaters. The skaters proposed that the facility should comprises of a number of features, including ramps, banks, pyramids, funboxes, pipes (mini, quarter and half-pipes), slide and grinding rails, etc. The features needed to be placed on a smooth hard standing surface and fenced. Aware that some people object to street skating, the skater's proposals were based on relocating to Green Ayre on Parliament Street in Lancaster. The idea had support from a number of agencies including Leisure Services, the Police and the Youth and Community Services. The location had merit for a number of reasons;-

• It is a large open area that can accommodate a range of features, without dominating the whole location.
• The location is far enough removed from residential and business properties and traffic not to cause a nuisance or danger.
• The area is visible and would therefore avoid the problems of previous initiatives (vandalism), but also gives the street skaters an area to be seen "performing".

The location within Green Ayre, is on land owned by Lancaster City Council and Cabinet subsequently approved the location for the development of an area for street skating.

Based on evidence gathered from other locations David Owen, the Chief Leisure Officer established that the projected costs of the street skater's aspirations would require a capital investment of at least £60,000.

The skaters were aware that if the scheme were to progress it would need support from a number of individuals, groups, statutory agencies as well as the private and voluntary sectors. Based on the research and discussions undertaken, the skaters themselves accept that they would have a role to play, in terms of raising funds for the facility and subsequently designing and managing the facility. In relation to the latter, there was broad agreement that the skating occurring in high profile public locations such as on and around monument to Queen Victoria in Dalton Square, shop frontages and the Magistrates Courts, etc., would be prohibited. The response to the above from the skaters was positive and not surprisingly they argued that they only used such locations because there is no where else to go . Even allowing for any scepticism to such a response, the City Council and the Police would be better able to manage the current problems by moving any skaters on to a designate area.

Funding

Based on an estimated cost of a minimum of £60,000, the issue of funding became paramount. Unfortunately, it also became evident that traditional funding routes, such as Lottery funding were in decline. Therefore, the funding strategy was focussed around a combination of local fundraising and support from the voluntary and statutory sectors via the Community Safety Initiative.

To raise the profile of the proposed skatepark the local skaters, together with the Chief Leisure Officer worked alongside the two local newspapers, which agreed to "adopted the campaigns - 'Donate 2Sk8' and 'Get Your Skates On'" as their contribution to the project. At the same time, the then Mayor of the City of Lancaster, Councillor Mrs Eileen Blamire, agreed to adopt the development of a Skatepark of Lancaster as one of her projects during her mayoral year. The Mayor became the focal point of a public campaign known locally as "Donate 2SK8" (Donate to Skate), whereby individuals and companies were encouraged raised funds or make a direct donation to Donate 2SK8. All fundraising and/or donations of £50 or over were acknowledged in the local newspapers, whilst any donation of £1,000 were to be featured as a logo on the facility when it was built.

Although it took the best part of a year the eventual outcome was the estimated capital costs of £60,000 was achieved via a combination of the "Donate 2SK8" campaign and successful bids to the SRB (Single Regeneration Budget), Lancaster City Council, and Lancashire County Council.

Procurement

Running parallel to the fundraising initiatives, a procurement strategy was also initiated. However, the approach adopted was not the usual route. Instead of preparing a specification, it was decided to conduct the exercise by inviting skateboard companies to submit design proposals to a "declared" budget.

A project brief was circulated to specialist companies asking them to respond with costed proposals, within the specified budget, and a timescale for delivery. Competing bids were subsequently assessed on the basis of the scope of the proposal, cost and future maintenance costs of the finished skatepark.

Of the nineteen companies originally circulated, eleven companies submitted proposals by the due date. Thereafter a "design" team of 3 adult representatives of local skaters together with David Owen, the Chief Leisure Officer assessed the proposals, reducing the number of companies who could best met the Lancaster Skatepark design brief to four.

The four remaining submissions, represented a broad range of proposals and also gave the opportunity to compare possible skating surfaces of timber, steel, concrete or synthetic. The Chief Leisure Officer took up references in respect of all four companies from other local authorities and together with the design team representatives visited completed projects and spoke to skaters at those locations. It was a condition of the invitation to submit design proposals that the facility had to be designed, constructed and managed within the Guidance Protocols as established by the Council's Insurers.

From a skater's perspective, the design team of the 3 adult representatives of local skaters was unanimous in their choice of which submission they support, particularly with regards to the views and comments received from local skaters generally. Co-incidentally, the Chief Leisure Officer supported the choice, but influenced more by the references, site visits, details supplied with the submission, and issues associated with maintenance. The preferred company was Uniform Skatepark Construction Ltd who supplied a skatepark featuring concrete ramps. The submission by Uniform Skatepark Construction Ltd., best met the design brief and represented value for money at a set cost.

Construction

The Green Ayre Skatepark was built over a ten week period in the early summer of 2003 and became operational in June 2003. In August 2003, the site hosted a day-long Skating Festival, attended by over 3,000. The Festival was seen as part of the young people's opportunity to celebrate their achievements and to thank everyone who had worked within the "partnership".

Linked to the earlier comments about the positioning of street skating within youth culture, in acknowledging the young people's positive involvement in the design, construction and management of Green Ayre Skatepark, Lancaster City Council has adopted a pragmatic view to graffiti on the site. With an agreed caveat that any offensive or personalised graffiti will be removed, local skaters, as part of the Skating Festival held in August, have created large murals on the main surfaces. Not surprisingly, there is little evidence of vandalism to a facility the skaters see as being theirs.

Conclusions

There is a general consensus locally that the Green Ayre Skatepark represents one of the most successful Community Initiatives undertaken by Lancaster City Council in recent years. As a facility, Green Ayre Skatepark represents a significant investment in facilities for young people. Whereas previously street skaters could legitimately argue against being moved on from skating in public areas, Green Ayre Skatepark is acknowledged by skaters as being one of the best such facilities in the North West of England.

However, more so than the actual facility, the process has proved significant in engaging with young people. Having adopted a partnership approach (evident by the endorsement of the SRB funding by the Community Safety Partnership), the facility provides more than just a skating facility. Green Ayre Skatepark has also become the focus for Lancaster City Council and a number of its partner agencies to concentrate it outreach work of engaging with hard to reach young people. Although Green Ayre Skatepark is only six months old, its contribution to Young People's Issues is already proving significant, with other agencies, such as the Police and Youth and Community Services recording a reduction in complaints against youth related anti-social behaviour. Green Ayre Skatepark is also making a contribution to other multi-agency referrals initiatives, such as those involving Probation Services, Youth Offending Team, Drug Action Team, etc. Green Ayre Skatepark provides a much needed platform to the multi-agency approach to targeting disaffected youths deemed at risk in terms of offending or substance abuse.

For a 360° view of Green Ayre Skatepark please link to;-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/360/lancaster_skatepark.shtml