The deal with Leamington’s Vicky Park mini ramp

I heard some rumours on the grapevine that the Vicky Park mini in Leamington was getting torn down. Some people were saying the ramp was getting destroyed with no replacement, and some optimistically said that Leamington council were putting in a concrete replacement. The infamous Edd Cullen aka Camera Mandem has been in contact with the council, and has received this email which holds some answers;

Hi Edd,

I’ve been away on hols so just picking up my email now and replying, so sorry for the delay in responding.

Its bad news on the Vicky Park ramp, its rotten underneath and has had to be dismantled for health and safety reasons. This decision was not taken lightly but we had no other choice.

GBH Engineering who supplied and installed the ramp, with guarantees, no longer exist. However a spin off company GBH ramps do exist but do not carry the guarantees. We have no legal come back on this failed ramp.

The supports, weld joins and frame all underneath were severly rusted. The foam insulating the ramp underneath was saturated with water, and rusting the ramp. In places it was dangerous. The extent of damage is beyond a repair and we must now look at ways of funding a replacement.

I have yet to discuss this with my senior managers and I know there will not be a quick answer especially at times when the Council financial position is not great.

I have looked at both websites you have sent me, thanks, and I was aware of gravity parks, but not ukskate. Some really useful info thanks and something to take on board in any future decisions at Vicky Park.

Sorry to bring you the bad news. Hope life is treating you well.

I will keep you updated on any news, plans we may have to replace this skate unit.

regards

Dave

If anything, this email says two things to me; Never trust GBH, and the rest of Warwickshire’s evaluation of how important skateparks are for the youth is completely off. In terms of funding – there is always something available. With the Covpark project, we’ve discovered 1 or 2 interesting places to gather money to get the ball rolling – and these sources of funding were recommended, and contacted by our council on our behalf.

Skatepark projects aren’t just a case of the council “pulling out their fingers”, everyone must work hard if the end result is badly needed (which, in Leamington’s case, it is). Edd has put in as much effort with trying to raise awareness of Leamington’s scene as I have with Coventry’s scene, and whilst the council in Coventry appear to be taking note and at least trying to push us in the right direction to get a good park, Leamington’s reaction to their active and thriving skateboarding scene appears to be just to give in to health and safety and claim there’s no easy answer. If somewhere doesn’t have a skatepark, it IS a skatepark, and given Leamington’s rumoured “no tolerance” attitude towards street skating in the town centre, the lack of a proper facility is going to cause some kind of chaos. It’s too much to expect the locals to travel to Coventry, Kenilworth or Stratford (where a proper replacement for the skatepark that was half torn down appears to not be going ahead) every time they want to go for a skate.

Hopefully a decision is made sooner rather than later – Warwickshire’s skatepark scene is rapidly growing, and with only a handful of concrete facilities (which are less than desirable in their design), and many awful metal/wood facilities, local councils will soon have to realise that the demand for proper skateparks is extremely high.