Bedworth skatepark removed by council over safety fears

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Labour councillor Emma Shiers said she wanted to know more about why the skatepark was removed



A popular skatepark has been removed by a council over safety concerns.

The ramps at Bedworth Miners Welfare Park were taken out after more than 20 years last week, with plans to replace them delayed by rising costs.

Parents say the loss of the facility is a huge blow for local youngsters.

However, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said the ramps had "reached the end of their useful working life" and it needed to "keep people safe".

The council agreed to delay a proposed upgrade to the town's leisure facilities in January, after costs spiralled from £27.5m, to more than £34m.

The plans included the installation of new ramps, to form part of a physical activity hub that would incorporate an improved swimming pool and mountain biking track.

"We have invested a lot of time and money in Bedworth Miners' Welfare Park already," said Councillor Julian Gutteridge, cabinet member for health and the environment.

"Unfortunately, the time has now come to decommission the ramps, which have reached the end of their useful working life."

The decision had been taken following an assessment of the facility by the parks and greenspace team, the council said.

But Camp Hill Labour councillor Emma Shiers said the sudden removal had taken local residents by surprise.

"The community weren't told, we weren't told," she said. "Nobody's actually seen the report, so we're not sure of what state the park was actually in."

The project was set to be funded by council borrowing and grants, including £2m from Sport England and about £15m from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

Mr Gutteridge said the council was looking into installing a temporary facility while borrowing plans were reviewed.

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Council lifts lid on dangers that led to shock removal of Bedworth skate park



Council bosses have lifted the lid on the dangers that led to the shock removal of Bedworth skate park. The much-loved facility was ripped out of the Miners Welfare Park in just a matter of hours by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council over health and safety concerns.

Having not gone into detail previously, Cllr Julian Gutteridge, cabinet member for parks, explained why the decision was taken and action taken so quickly. The council has come under fire for not pre-warning residents about the removal.

He told a full council meeting that it will be replaced, but not in the short term, as it is part of the proposals for the new Bedworth Physical Activity Hub project which the council has had to put on hold while it looks for more funding due to spiralling costs.

Cllr Gutteridge explained that they discovered the health and safety concerns after an inspection was carried out. He gave the timeline of events, saying that skate park specialists carried out the review on-site on January 27.

On January 30, they came back with some initial findings that the ramps were unsafe and needed to be decommissioned. On January 31, the parks team met with a contractor to look at the ramps and talk about removing it.

Then, on February 1, the council received the final inspection report which had a risk rating of 25, the highest possible.

"The main issues all of the noses of the ramps were either sinking or protruding significantly for the Tarmac surface creating dangerous trip hazards," Cllr Gutteridge said. "In addition to this, it highlighted other issues with denting of the ramp heads and splitting of the ramps due to corrosion.

"Due to all of the issues and the age of the facility, 20 years plus, they (the inspection team) concluded that it was not structurally or financially viable to keep the skate park open."

He added that they commissioned the contractor to remove the skate park at the earliest time possible, which was Monday, February 6, and it was taken down in half a day.

"Council officers will ensure that the surface will be Tarmaced and filled as soon as possible," he went on. "The safety risk, at 25, which is frightening, could lead to accident and permanent disabilities for our young people and I do not want for this borough."