The long-awaited Botley skatepark project is finally underway.
Since 2010 when the previous Botley Bowl was filled in, locals have been pushing for a new one. Ag MacKeith, a veteran local Councillor, is a member of Botley Sk8s, who have been organising and raising money for the project through events and grant applications. She said, “I think everything about skateboarding is good. It gets kids out into fresh air and takes them away from screens. It's something they want to do and it doesn’t help to have rich parents. The best board in the world won’t get you respect if you haven’t put in the work and got the bruises to show for it.”
Supporting events included a roller disco and film shows. A children’s screening at the Tap Social featuring ‘Back to the Future 2’ raised £558 and was “absolutely buzzing”. On the 7th of September, a quiz and raffle night held by the Botley SK8s fundraising team raised £968. Grants from the FCC’S Community Action Fund, National Lottery’s Community Fund and Cumnor Parish Council were also given to support the project, which is an initiative of Botley and North Hinksey Parish Council.
The skatepark itself is “very carefully designed to be accessible to all different kinds of skill” and “so scooters will not be offensive to it,” says Francis Prime who has also been working to get the skatepark built. Francis was 9 years old when the original Botley Bowl was built and spent a lot of time there riding his skateboard. When he returned to the area as an adult, and found the bowl destroyed, he was “gutted”. When he heard that the parish council was willing to provide a new skatepark, he took action. He said, “We got a kind of small group of us together. We started consulting with the local potential skaters to really understand what people wanted.” He continued, “I came up to meet all the contractors, and showed them around the site, and we debated where in the field it should go, and, you know, what kind of skatepark we should have. And we came up with this design brief. And this is why this skatepark is, I believe, going to be really, really, really special. We took inspiration from these new skate parks that are happening out in the States that have billowing curves but we added beginner stages - a flat area and mini ramp. And so, we're going to have a little bit of everything. No one around nearby, no skatepark in a 50-mile radius, has got anything like this. This really is going to be very special.”
The bowl is expected to be finished by Christmas so will be a perfect present for the local skater community and children interested in getting out of the house for some fun.
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