Council Chair opens wheely fun new Skate Park in Skellingthorpe
A new £300,000 skate park part-funded with money allocated through developer contributions for community facilities in a Lincoln-area village has already proved to be a huge success.
Skelly Skatepark is an extension to an already impressive recreational space at Monson Park, Skellingthorpe. Featuring ramps, rails, bowls, steps and part-pipes, it offers a free-access sporting challenge for a broad range of ages.
Pioneered by villagers and led by the parish council, after more than two years of hard work by local residents to see it to fruition, it opened for use over the school holidays and was recently officially opened by Chair of North Kesteven District Council Cllr Chris Goldson, also a long-standing district councillor for the village, alongside Parish Council Chair Cllr Caroline Coyle-Fox.
The project was instigated back in 2023 by local residents Matt and Debbie Scarborough. Along with their two sons Charlie and Robin, they approached the Parish Council and put forward their idea, supported by a petition signed by many children and parents.
After a lot of negotiating, planning and ground reports by Matt and Debbie, it attracted £161,700 in funding from the National Lottery and received £130,000 from S106 monies held by the District Council from Section 106 contributions demanded from developers and designated to support community facilities and infrastructure.
The building works started in early March and the Skate Park was ready for the school summer holidays; in which time it has proved very popular and on September 7, the new facility hosted a ‘Skate Jam’ organised by Matt, which included semi-pro skateboarders giving demonstrations and safety tips.
At the official opening ceremony Cllr Chris Goldson, said: “This is one of the fantastic days when at long last we can see the money that was contributed towards our community being used in this way.
“I thank everybody who has been involved in this project, but especially Matt and Debbie because without them driving it hard from the word go, and continuing to drive it hard to this point, we wouldn’t have this incredible facility. It is great credit to them that they’ve done that.
“Thank you to everybody else as well along the way who has made it all possible.”
Chair of Skellingthorpe Parish Council, Cllr Caroline Coyle-Fox, said: “I’d like to thank Matt and Debbie who came up with the idea of a Skate Park to entertain adults and young children alike.
“I’d also like to thank North Kesteven District Council, Wheelscape for their design and build, and the National Lottery for funding to be able to help to build the skate park."