DESIGNS for a new £300,000 skate park in Bradford on Avon have been shared by Ideal Bradford, the ruling political group on the town council.

It has revealed details of the design of the new facility which could be built at Poulton Field, the site of the old Wiltshire Council skatepark that was demolished after being vandalised.

Ideal Bradford and council leader Dom Newton said: “Councillors have now had a preview of the designs, and although there were still questions from some about the demand for a new facility, the design itself – created by Maverick Skateparks with help from local skaters – went down really well!”

The council selected Maverick Industries in August last year as its preferred partner to deliver a new skatepark for Bradford on Avon.

The unanimous decision followed a competitive tender and presentations from the suppliers that responded to the request for proposals.

Cllr Newton said: “I’m really pleased that this project is now in a position, with support of councillors, to move forward.

“But to be clear, this is not a town council project, and will not be delivered just by the town council.

“For the project to work, it needs to be strongly supported by the community in terms of positive engagement with the consultation process, and also in terms of fundraising.

“We’re really excited that this can now start in earnest.”

Christine Giles, of Christine’s Sustainable Supermarket in Bradford on Avon, is now trying to drum up support for a fundraising appeal to help pay for the skate park.

She said: “The fact that so many of you amazing people have offered to help made me think, hey let’s see what we can raise for the skate park.

“The shocker is, it’s going to cost £300,000. There’s 10,000-ish residents in BoA and if we all give a fiver, we will be providing one sixth of the cost and will show our wonderful town council that we want to help so that when they apply for all the grants, it’ll be a little less for them to do.

“How proud will we be when it opens knowing that we are a part of it. Let’s make every child in BoA happy.

“If there‘s enough interest, I’ll look into doing a justgiving page, as long as 100 per cent of the money raised goes to the skate park. Won’t this be blooming amazing to have in our town.”

The council was approached by local youngsters and their parents in 2018, after the previous Wiltshire Council-owned skate ramp was decommissioned, asking councillors to consider providing a new facility for the popular sport.

Idris Jones, age 12, one of the young campaigners who led the appeal for a new skate park, said: “This is amazing! They’ve built some of the coolest skateparks in Britain – I can’t wait for Bradford on Avon to have one of them.”

Sue Mitchener, director of Maverick, said: “Maverick are absolutely delighted to be chosen to work in partnership with Bradford on Avon Town Council to deliver a new skatepark to the area.

“Maverick are renowned for building high quality parks with progressive designs, worked up in close consultation with the local riding community.

“Our parks are designed to appeal to a wide range of ages and abilities with input from skateboarders, BMX and Scooter riders.

“We look forward to having the opportunity to meet up with anyone interested in getting involved with this exciting project in the near future.”