CAMPAIGNERS in Petersfield have got their wish – by convincing the town council to make 2008 the 'year of the skatepark'. The council chamber was full for a meeting of the grounds committee, with many young skaters attending to support a statement made by the Festival for Young People to encourage councillors to press on with plans to give the £270,000 project a push. Petersfield Town Football Club members were also in attendance as the two sides, who are neighbours on Love Lane playing fields, resolved the tricky matter of a fence boundary. Grounds chairman Bob Ayer said he hoped to put a recommendation to council that the project had reached the point where it would be appropriate for external funding to be set and formal planning to be made. Mr Wells told the committee he had taken steps to move the project forward, with technical drawings produced to the stage that they were ready to send out to tender. "We employed a recognised skatepark architect who held two workshops with young skaters and BMX riders. His initial set of plans was approved by the town council on August 6, 2007, subject to appropriate arrangements being made for the boundary between the skatepark and the football ground," he said. Mr Wells said that no progress had been made since those plans were approved five months ago. In the meantime, quotes had been received from fencing contractors, for the southern boundary of the football ground. A requirement of the Football League is that people may not be able to look over the fence to watch football, as people have paid to get in. Due to some parts of the proposed skatepark being elevated the fence, plans will have to be amended to take that into account. The community liason officer for Petersfield Town Football Club, Ian Reed, said the club felt there had been a lot of vandalism to the existing fence, but he was satisfied that plans for a replacement was "substantial" and he was "comfortable with the boundary fence being proposed". Mr Reed said the fence would have to be two metres high, extended to four metres at points were it would be possible to see over into the football ground. Mr Ayer said the town council had previously spent £1,000 on the existing fence, but that "vandalism begets vandalism". A possible steel fence was viewed as providing a potential noise source by councillors, and a solid timber fence was preferred. Paul Molloy said the old fence was being "repaired at the moment" to be really substantial and strong, and as a consequence not easily vandalised. "The structure of the fence is going to be completely different. The club intends to decide what fence to have and try to purchase a fence that will go all the way around. It has got to be a lot stronger than the fence that is currently there." The club is currently exploring a fence type, such as the type used alongside motorways. Councillors proposed to approve the increased height of the fence to four metres, with the timber option. The boundary was agreed in principle, which was an essential move in order to speed up the planning application. The town council agreed to apply for planning permission, and Mr Wells offered to do the leg work himself of drawing up plans, which would have to be approved at town council. It was also agreed to keep councillors up to date with the progress of the project at each meeting as part of the grounds maintenance officer's report. The latest move is a step in the right direction for the Festival for Young People, which has been campaigning for the skatepark for more than two years. Not only has it been working closely with the council over the planning stages, but it has also been fundamental in working out the funding. So far, a £50,000 grant was pledged by the town council as part of this year's budget and, perhaps most encouragingly, a £5,000 was put towards the project by Hampshire County Council. When that was granted in December, in advance of the planning application, it gave Nigel Wells the impression there would be no problem other than to dot the is and cross the ts. The bulk of the remaining money is hoped to be raised from a Lottery grant. The Festival for Young People also has a policy of having the skaters themselves do some fundraising, from which they hope to raise around £10,000, with around 30 volunteers already signed up and willing to do what they can for the cause.
