The young people of Hebden Bridge celebrated last week as the long awaited, new skatepark in Calder Holmes Park, reached its completion.
The project has been driven forward by Councillor Lesley Jones, The Deputy Mayor of Hebden Royd, to help the young people of Hebden Bridge, who have played a vital role in the project. The young people have been involved at every stage, from the initial consultation over two years ago, to helping raise the £179,000 which was needed to redevelop the skate park.
The project, which received £95,000 from Sport England, £50,000 from Groundworks UK’s Changing Spaces initiative, £25,000 from Calderdale Council’s Youth Opportunities fund, £5,000 from Calderdale Council’s Community foundation and £4,000 from Hebden Royd Town Council, has seen the skate park doubled in size.
The final stage of the exciting redevelopment work has taken just over three months to complete.
“It’s fantastic that we’ve finally got there,” said Councillor Jones, who is also a committee member of Friends of Calder Holmes Park - the group behind the project.
“It’s a great result for all the young people who have been involved in this project over the last two and a half years and who were heavily involved with the design of the skate park.
“It will also bring a lot of people into Hebden Bridge, which is obviously great for all the local businesses.”
There is still some landscaping and a few finishing touches needed on the site but overall the result has been outstanding. The skatepark is centred around an L shape structure; approximately 27 metres by 22.5 metres, with ramps, jumps and a bowl. The slopes behind the ramps have been ‘bunded’ to allowthem to be used as viewing sites, provide runs on to the skate park for bikers, and to help create a more attractive environment.
Hebden Bridge can now boast its own state of the art skate park, the best for miles around.
The official opening of the skatepark will be incorporated in to the Fair for Youth event which takes place on Saturday 21st May in Calder Holmes Park. This free festival for young people will run from 1:00pm to 7:00pm and will be an action packed day, with a range of entertainment, activities and workshops.