Skate park in Winthorpe to be taken down after spate of vandalism

The difficult decision to remove the facility built for the youth of the area was made by Skegness town councilors.

Originally it was built by Winthorpe Community Partnership who raised the funds to get it installed in 2014.

However, the council heard the youths who built it have now grown up – and since the council took over responsibility for it there had been “an increase in vandalism”.

Town clerk Steve Larner told councillors at last week’s meeting that over the past year vandals had damaged the rails and barriers.

"More recently this has included the main decking, with holes and more recently a fire,” he said. “It has also become apparent that the structure seemed to be in decay.”

A survey revealed the structure only had 12 months life left and it was now necessary to decide whether to repair it or take it down.

Five options were given, including a temporary repair costing £2,800, a major repair costing £16,856, like- for- like replacement costing £28,000, replacement with a concrete structure which would need investigating or removal of structure costing £1,600.

Coun Mark Anderson called for a public consultation to see whether a skatepark was still needed and suggested a football pitch could be a priority.

However, county councilor for Skegness North Carl Macey reminded the council this had been a Community Partnership asset and said although he agreed the current structure should be removed, other funding sources should be explored to replace it. He also pointed out goal posts were soon to be installed.

Coun Ady Findley said any like for like stricture would be subject to vandalism in these times of rising costs they had to protect the residents’ money.

Councillors agreed any repair or like-for-like replacement could still be subject to vandalism and the best option would be a concrete replacement.

It was agreed to remove the structure for the time being and discuss exploring funding sources with partners to replace the skatepark with a concrete structure.