Work on new skate park ramps up and gets under way

Melksham skaters can look forward to a new and improved skate park in time for the summer, with work due to get under way this week.

The new skate park will be provided as part of Wiltshire Council’s Health and Wellbeing (campus) programme in Melksham. The new park will provide skaters with a durable, modern facility which will mean they will no longer have to travel to other parts of Wiltshire or further afield in order to access a quality skating facility.

It has been designed to cater for younger skaters and beginners through to more advanced skaters, offering a challenging environment, for all levels.

Canvas Spaces will build the new facility on the same site as the existing skate park at King George V Playing Fields. Work is expected to take around 14 weeks to complete, during which time the current skate park will be unavailable.

Wiltshire Council corporate director, Carlton Brand said, “We are pleased that work will start this week to deliver this much-needed new facility. We know it will be extremely popular and we have listened to local people and skaters in planning and designing the new park.

“The provision of the new skate park is part of the council’s programme to invest in community facilities across the county.”

Local professional skater James Threfall, who has been part of the project from the beginning and has worked with the project designers and constructors, said, “The skatepark in Melksham has been incredibly well used since its opening, providing a space for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in action sports. I was 12 when I began skating, at which point I was lucky enough that the current facility was already open so I spent virtually every day there. A huge amount is owed to those that campaigned so hard for the original park to be built.

“Having received years of heavy use, it’s great to be able to build an incredible new skatepark for the future generations to use. With the new park being built out of concrete, this will also last decades longer than the current Melksham skatepark ramps, and I believe our planned design will create one of the best skateparks in the country.”

The delivery of the council’s health and wellbeing programme in Melksham includes the recently-opened state-of-the-art football and rugby facilities at Woolmore Farm, an improved Market Place which is currently being re-developed, the provision of a new cricket pavilion, and the development of a new health and wellbeing centre on the Melksham House site, which will provide services including leisure and library services and a new GP surgery.