Rasen Council pushes for funds for new skate park

Coun John Matthews told the Mail that the town council is ‘working hard’ to secure funds to build a new facility’ which the town council has confirmed will be a skate park.

Coun Matthews also responded to comments by a group of riders in last week’s Rasen Mail who regard the park as ‘a second home’.

One of the riders, Emilio Molave, 17, said: “A few years back, there were talks about refurbishing or replacing the skate park.

“We worked closely with the mayor - but little to no changes were made.”

Coun Matthews has responded to Mr Molave’s comments and said: “In fact, we spent approximately £4,000 in total, having the ramps overhauled and re-painted and added jumps in the grass area around the ramps.

“This park has two fundamental problems. It’s made of steel and with age it has rusted.

“The type of use it was designed for has changed - it’s not just skate boards but scooters and BMX bikes now.”

He added the council agreed with comments by another rider, Ash Appleyard, who expressed concerns about claims that the riders had ‘no respect’ for the equipment.

Coun Matthews said: “The council would also agree with Ash Appleyard’s comment about vandalism - apart from a little graffiti, the park has not suffered. We are currently working hard to find funds to build a new facility. We are speaking with Sport England, have registered with Tesco for the Blue Token Community Scheme and are looking at other funding sources.

“If the users, or any part of the community, would like to arrange fund raising activities then all efforts are very welcome.”