East Cambridgeshire District Council

Soham’s new state of the art BMX Skatepark opened this weekend and was full of the wannabe street stars who helped to design the site

The Park opened on 17 July and was the culmination of work between Soham Town Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and most importantly young people in the town.

After detailed discussions and consultation, the Town Council spent over £60,000 which included Section 106 money on creating the Skatepark and the new BMX area which was designed in conjunction with local young people.

The launch also marked the beginning of a new concept called 'YouthSafe' - developed by a project group of local agencies and young people themselves. The idea is for the Skatepark area to be a safe haven for young people and there will be no moving on by the Police or other agencies as long as they abide by the rules, which they have helped to create.

The Soham Historic Preservation Trust were also at the event staging an exhibition of over 50 works of art submitted by local schools featuring the historic buildings of Soham. Cllr Anthea Davidson and Cllr Tony Parramint, representing the District Council, had the difficult job of judging the best paintings in three categories 3 -5, 6-8 and 9-11 year olds.

Cllr Anthea Davidson, Chairman of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "The opening of the Skatepark was a fantastic event. Everyone had worked very hard from across all agencies and the community to develop a park which gives children something exciting they want to do. The young people have had a huge say in how the park has been designed and developed - they should be very proud of what they have created.

“The new facilities are a great example of how local people of different interests and ages can come together to benefit the community. There is talk of parents getting involved and helping organise competitions in the near future and using the recreation area to a greater extent. Everyone should be rightly proud of what they have achieved and I know the enthusiasm I saw yesterday will continue in the months and years to come.”

ENDS

Notes for editors:

For further information contact Tony Taylorson in the Communications Team on 01223 699285.