Highly delighted about this -  a small step in the right direction ! I took my son and his friends to Corby Skatepark during the school holidays and it is the most amazing place - there were children as young as 3 right up to adult using the facility. We stayed all day and it was £7 for the day.  There were so many people there (mainly boys), from all walks of life, that may otherwise be roaming the streets, with little to do. There was a real sense of community and everyone respected one and other. If anyone is seriously interested about doing something like Corby in Newbury count me in !

Is this a permanent thing or was it set up for the school hols.

Quoted from richard.garvie

Permanent thing. It'a a place called adrenaline alley, and is something I would like to see happen here in West Berkshire. Unfortunately elected members currently not able to think outside of the box, and would rather spend the amount it would cost and more on an outdoor facility that can only be used during the summer. A like for like facility would have to be housed within an industrial unit and I have personally been looking at options for a while now. It's only since the town council want to spend £200k on the existing outdoor facility that I've called for a bit of thought process to go into this decision. Why create something outside when the existing facility could be replaced a lot cheaper than building concrete bowls, with the remaining cash going towards an indoor facility for all year round use.

Is there something suitable at the air base ? Have you ever been to Corby ? It's amazing ! A lot of the staff are volunteers, and their "perk" is being able to skate for free. There are so many people that do down the "youth of today", who are seriously under-estimated.  Surely if we can build a shopping centre, we can build an indoor skate park !  What about Vodafone sponsorship ? (This is worrying me, I am 40, it's midnight .... and I have a bee in my bonnet !! )

I'd suggest that £200k isn't going to get you an adrenaline alley.

And they charge kids £7.00 a time to use the facilities, which include a 'concrete bowl'.

I think you will find that they have much more than just a concrete bowl, which is why people drive for three hours to go there!!!

It cost Corby Council £15,000 in grants. The rest was raised by the user group who created it, and only visitors pay £7 a day which isn't a bad revenue stream. I think locals could pay an annual members fee which would allow them to use it as much as they like. Remember, it isn't just a skate facility, but attracts young people with other facilities.

The fact is any facility in Victoria Park can't be used in winter weather!!!

Quoted from richard.garvie

The fact is any facility in Victoria Park can't be used in winter weather!!!

Yes, but Victoria Park is just that, a park. It is bad enough that WBC and Greenham Trust want to build a pavilion on it. The park is a green space, Summer or Winter and that's how it should remain. No huge pavilion, no indoor skating rink.
I seriously doubt if Greenham would want a "community facility" on their site, they are doing their best to get shot of all of the community projects up there anyway, hence their "generosity" with misplaced grants for the Pavilion.

Quoted from 78

I'd suggest that £200k isn't going to get you an adrenaline alley.

And they charge kids £7.00 a time to use the facilities, which include a 'concrete bowl'.

£7 for a day is very good value - there is little else to occupy that age group in the area.  A trip to the cinema, and the bowling alley work out more expensive.  Then there are the refreshments ----- adrenalin Alley charge about 50p for a tea or coffee.  Cinema refreshments are horrendous prices !  And as I said previously many staff are volunteers.

Quoted from PaulaM

£7 for a day is very good value - there is little else to occupy that age group in the area.  A trip to the cinema, and the bowling alley work out more expensive.  Then there are the refreshments ----- adrenalin Alley charge about 50p for a tea or coffee.  Cinema refreshments are horrendous prices !  And as I said previously many staff are volunteers.

200k for the 6 or 7 kids that would use it doesn't seem good value. Buy 2,000 x boxes instead.

Quoted from PaulaM

£7 for a day is very good value - there is little else to occupy that age group in the area.  A trip to the cinema, and the bowling alley work out more expensive.  Then there are the refreshments ----- adrenalin Alley charge about 50p for a tea or coffee.  Cinema refreshments are horrendous prices !  And as I said previously many staff are volunteers.

Yes but kids don't go to the cinema every day, nor the bowling alley.

During the summer holidays it would get rather expensive if Jnr wanted to go skateboarding every day. £7.00 is for a 'all day' nine hour session. To get these rates you have to also pay £20.00 membership.  I bet the cans of coke in AA are expensive too.....

Quoted from PaulaM

£7 for a day is very good value

I'm sure it is. But for the current users, it represents pretty poor value seeing as they currently pay nothing. Also, there will be many who enjoy skating but cannot afford £7 a day. It's a good idea to have a dedicated indoor skate facility, but it shouldn't come at the cost of removing what is already there to people at no charge. If we want to encourage more people to use the skate facilities in the park then taking away the free ramps and potentially moving the facilities to somewhere not within walking distance of the town centre, then also charging people to use them is not the way to do it.

Quoted from richard.garvie

I think you will find that they have much more than just a concrete bowl, which is why people drive for three hours to go there!!!

It cost Corby Council £15,000 in grants. The rest was raised by the user group who created it, and only visitors pay £7 a day which isn't a bad revenue stream. I think locals could pay an annual members fee which would allow them to use it as much as they like. Remember, it isn't just a skate facility, but attracts young people with other facilities.

The fact is any facility in Victoria Park can't be used in winter weather!!!

Visitors pay £7.50 for a 4.5 hour session, wheras locals pay £5.00 for the same.
AA does have other things - a classroom ( full of school kids I notice & not skateboarders ), a music practice room &  video games.

It may only have cost Corby council £15k in grants ( which is why there is a classroom no doubt) but they also got given £125k in partner funding, many donations & were able to locate a 51,000ft² factory unit. This no doubt came about because the developer who owned the unit was building 5100 houses in the town.

Yes it would be great to have some all singing, all dancing urban sports area in town, but it ain't gonna happen.

Quoted from 78

Visitors pay £7.50 for a 4.5 hour session, wheras locals pay £5.00 for the same.
AA does have other things - a classroom ( full of school kids I notice & not skateboarders ), a music practice room &  video games.

It may only have cost Corby council £15k in grants ( which is why there is a classroom no doubt) but they also got given £125k in partner funding, many donations & were able to locate a 51,000ft² factory unit. This no doubt came about because the developer who owned the unit was building 5100 houses in the town.

Yes it would be great to have some all singing, all dancing urban sports area in town, but it ain't gonna happen.

  ....... Why not ?? Because the town is run by idiots ?? Does anyone have a vision, or the gumption to do anything ? Corby is an INTERNATIONAL attraction for your info. - so of course we couldn't have THAT in Newbury.

Quoted from PaulaM

  ....... Does anyone have a vision, or the gumption to do anything ?

This kind of thing is best left to a commercial concern, in my opinion. If there is a market in Newbury for people to pay to use a skate park then, with the right proposal, it will attract investors. But that isn't something that I want the council to be wasting it's time with. They already provide skate facilities, which have no admission fee, to anyone that want's to use them.

First of all Brian, an indoor facility would be located at an industrial unit, NOT Victoria Park. I totally agree that Victoria Park is a great place to go and I for one would not want to see it covered in vast building or concrete. However, I do support the idea of a pavilion if it replaces the existing building. Sorry for the confusion, but I have said elsewhere that I have been looking for a suitable unit for some time. So, once again, no massive buildings on the park.

On the subject of admission charges, we are once again jumping well ahead of ourselves as unless I am very much mistaken, I've not even set up the steering committee yet let alone apply for funding. The thing is, I have a vision of creating a youth facility that incorporates a skate and bmx facility, a hang out zone, music area, classroom and possible additional facilities. It's a vision, and with a group of dedicated local people it can become reality like Corby, Leeds or any of the other facilities in the UK. I know from research and visiting Corby that these places are very rarely empty.

I'm not suggesting it is run or funded by the council either. What I am suggesting is that if the council want to spend £200k on two concrete bowls, why not consult kids and parents as to where to spend that money??? An indoor facility could be used all round, the kids would be supervised and it would attract people to the area. I think it is great that the council are prepared to spend this amount of money on a youth facility, but why build two massive concrete bowls on a green area when you could rebuild what you already have for less money and make a contribution to a youth facility that targets more than just skaters.

Local politics is failing all over the UK, not just here, because local politicians think they know best and are more important than they actually are. By contrast, I want to make a contribution to improving this area and think outside of the box. Why should our taxes pay for a facility like this??? Why can't we have a charitable trust that can introduce a facility like this without people sniping that it will "never happen"??? The days of elected members hiding in council chaqmbers are nearing an end, and hopefully the electorate will vote for the alterantive at the ballot boxes next year.

We live in a great part of England, and unless we get out of the mindset that we can't achieve great things and we have to put up with the narrow minded "we know best" politics that exists currently, we will continue to slide down this very slippery slope that we are on. Lets stand up and do something different. Lets inspire people to get involved in their local community and help make it a better place to live. Forget "The Big Society", I want to be part of the good society.

Quoted from richard.garvie

Lets stand up and do something different. Lets inspire people to get involved in their local community and help make it a better place to live. Forget "The Big Society", I want to be part of the good society.

Nice speech.   You're not at a party conference though.

Anyway, back down to earth, and from reading your last post you seem to be changing your stance somewhat. The impression that I got from your initial anti-council diatribe was that the £200k was a waste of money and should be used to set up a newbury version of Adrenaline Alley. Now you seem to be suggesting that the council should go ahead and replace the existing skate park, but then consider putting what's left into your indoor skate park idea?