West Moors Skate Park - West Moors Town Council

Skatepark

West Moors Skatepark was originally built in 2003 from monies raised by the youth of West Moors, with a little help from an adult committee. It was a very popular facility, but in 2019, it was becoming clear that the metal-based facility was showing signs of age and had reached the point where repair at any reasonable cost was not possible.
Therefore, a project was initiated by West Moors Council, to raise money to completely rebuild the facility and work began in June 2021 and by the end of September, the rebuilt park was active!

Thanks to the additional funders (Veolia Environmental Trust, The National Lottery Community Fund, The Leisure Development Fund at Dorset Council and Tesco Bags for Help- Groundwork), West Moors Skatepark was given a new lease of life.
It was the culmination of a lot of hard work by users, council staff & councillors, input and funding from various sources and of course the build team at Canvas.

Now, with the sustainable new concrete replacement, our thriving skate community can enjoy it for many years to come.
It boasts of specially laid concrete with a variety of ramps and other features and the surrounds are landscaped.
The design of the new park had progression in mind for all abilities, from beginner to advanced. Whether that be Skateboarding, Rollerblading, BMX or Scooters - there is something for everyone. Most notable is the 3ft mini ramp which West Moors skatepark has become quite famous for as the height and width make it a perfect place to learn and progress without feeling intimidated.

How to find us:

By car:
accessed from Station Road (the B3072), which links northward to Three Cross & Verwood and southward to the village centre and Ferndown - pass through the Memorial Hall car park.

By bike/walk:
Castleman Trailway runs alongside to the immediate south, with Fryer Field to the north and is right next-door to the tennis courts: Primary access is through the rear of the car park of the Memorial Hall - a dual pedestrian/locked vehicle gate was installed at the completion of the project.

Plan image of the new skatepark

UK Skateboard Association (UKSA)

West Moors Skate Park Action Group Facebook

Skate West Moors 2021 - Launch Party

Scores of skaters turned out in West Moors, at the launch party on Friday 15th October, to give our fantastic new Skatepark, the seal of approval.

The event was celebrated by nearly 200 people including families, young and older individuals/groups, residents/non-residents (It was amazing to hear how far some had come to try the new skate park), council members, and park users of all ages and abilities.

The turnout was proof of how much this community resource is important to a variety of people. It was bound to be a hit, as there was extensive consultation before doing the refurbishment, to ensure that Wishlist of many was catered for.

CANVAS who designed (with the help of the local skatepark user group) and built the skate park, entertained all, with music, competitions and West Moors Town Council generously sponsored lots of free pizza, provided by Pizza with Love, and keeping the party energised, was Golden Gate Coffee.

The tricks that some of the young ones were doing, were extremely impressive. The atmosphere was electrifying.

Thanks also went to Mr Russell Kerr, our local voluntary First Responder, for providing first aid cover, as he has done so for so many council events.

Launch Party video

" and we would like to thank ... "

... and of course these projects don't just happen! There are many individuals and organisations who played their part: the principal sponsors/donors are represented in the image to the right.

The Town Council & and its staff at Park Way played a pivotal role both prior to construction and in the various moves to seek funding - the council, representing the community of West Moors, also pitched in with a grant of £50 000 from its own reserved funds. The National Lottery Community Fund (£75 985) & Tesco (via its "Bags of Help" scheme) provided valuable funds, together with generous donations from Veoila Environmental Trust (£75 000) & the Leisure Development Fund at Dorset Council (£1500). There was also input from the Landfill Communities Fund.

And of course, someone had to do the work! The contractor chosen was Canvas Spaces - an experienced company with a good track record of building such facilities as ours. They have, by some measure, produced a superb park which will be enjoyed for many years to come.

Sponsors and partners

Skatepark History

there are notes on its history on this web site (link opens in a new browser window).

Pictorial record of the construction

The Town ( formerly Parish ) Council office led/co-ordinated the project to both raise the profile of the Skatepark facilities and activities & of course manage the rebuild which is now complete: this page will be updated with new information / images as and when available.

October 2021 (15th/Friday, from 3.30pm): official opening ceremony and party - details here!

September 2021: (Friday 24th) ... barriers removed, surrounds all seeded, users testing it out!

September 2021: Good progress has been made (as of first week of September) in the rebuild project ... see the pictorial diary of the construction works linked above. When an idea of completion date is known (tentatively end of September) then it will be entered here ... you can also keep up to date with the Facebook page linked at the bottom of this page.

June 2021: (following from Town Council) .... " Works commenced on West Moors skate park yesterday, Tuesday 22nd June 2021 and progress is underway with the demolition of it. The project was given the go-ahead after Community consultation, Full Council voting and very generous funders; Veoila Environmental Trust http://www.veoliatrust.org, Leisure Development Fund at Dorset Council, The National Lottery Community Fund · Non-profit organisation NationalLottery – acknowledging National Lottery players' support. Without this, TNL grant would not be possible. Tesco Bags of Help www.tesco.com/communitygrants.

The new park was designed by the local user group, people that attended the skate party consultation in September 2019 and the contractor CANVAS. To work with the young people of the community and achieve a design which includes many features requested by them was a great opportunity for everyone to “have their say” in what they wanted in the skate park. The Council really do hope to see an improvement in well being, community cohesion, social behaviour and performance skills of beginners and existing experts! "

June 2021: Work is now slated to begin on the complete rebuild of the Skatepark facility from Monday June 14th ( but see item above). The work is likely to last until August - obviously factors outwith the control of the contractors may amend this plan. This notice advises of possible disruption to the adjacent Memorial Hall car park use.

May 2021: The following is a copy of the statement (in part) contained within the May 2021 issue of the Council newsletter:
... " Thanks to the amazing awards: £75,985 from @TNLCommunityFund (The National Lottery Community Fund), £75,000 from Veolia Environmental Trust and £1,500 from Dorset Council Leisure Development Fund, West Moors SkatePark is now full steam ahead. Tired, worn out old facilities make it harder for people to start or keep doing sport. They can also be more expensive to run and difficult to maintain. Due to the generous funders, helpful Skate Park users and the Council’s own reserved funds (£50,000), we look forward to providing the Community with a modern concrete sustainable, accessible and engaging facility in terms of social, recreational, health and well-being opportunities, suitable for beginners & experienced skaters & other wheeled sports. If all goes well, work should commence in June."
Read the full text in the Newsletter (No. 14).

November 2020: The progress on full re-building of the Skatepark facility has obviously been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, both in making it difficult to take physical action and to ensure funding is available for the work. The issue was debated at the October 'Full Council' meeting with provisions made to ensure that the project will go-ahead during 2021. Read the Minutes of that meeting ( dated October 29th, agenda item 475 / " Skatepark Funding " ) by using the links on this web site for Council Minutes.

March 2020: Contractor approved for Skate Park project: At the routine Full Council meeting held on Thursday the 27th February, it was unanimously agreed to award the contract to Canvas Spaces Ltd - with the task of designing and building a concrete skate facility. You can read the Minutes ( specifically item 19/332 ) on this web site.

January 2020: Shop on Amazon Smile and help raise funds for the refurbishment of the Skatepark; the Council has issued a press release which details how everyone can help. The link will take you to the correct page, then follow the instructions, logging in using your Amazon account log-in and password, then search for " West Moors Youth Club " as the designated charity in the appropriate box: once you've done it once, then your details will be remembered - unless you decide to change the designated charity.

November 2019: at the meeting dated 31st October (see full Minutes, item 19/201), the Full Council voted unanimously to adopt the following:
a) The skatepark redevelopment value be set at £200,000 (subject to funding).
b) The skatepark tender document as seen is approved for publication.
c) The skatepark contract as seen is approved for publication.
d) The tender to be published, commencing the second week of January 2020 with a project completion date of 2021.
e) The skatepark tender and contract to be published on the Contracts Finder website.
f) The parish council apply for funding from various sources.
g) The parish council commit £50,000 of parish council funds towards the project.

September 2019: An 'open' event was held at the Skate Park on Friday September 27th, 2019: The Autumn 2019 Newsletter issued by the Council has a full report on this gathering (opens in a new browser window), with information relating to the future. Follow the Facebook page, to see latest developments as known.

An image provided by Dorset Police (Ferndown NPT) is shown below . . . very atmospheric and captures the event well.

skatepark evening