A new skate park, bike zone and amphitheater plan have been revealed for Nuneaton Park. Retired Gailyn Groves has teamed up with resident Rhian Luke to champion major changes at Stockingford Recreation Ground.
Gailyn was inspired by one of her grandsons, Charlie, who said the park’s skate park was in desperate need of a makeover – or a complete rebuild. “He (Charlie) has written to the city council’s parks department asking for repairs to be made to the surface of the current skatepark,” she said.
“Nothing has happened since. They (the youngsters) had it so hard being locked down for two years in the pandemic, and he got out and got on his skateboard, a lot of them did, he feels that skateboarding has become more popular.The skate is probably out of repair, the concrete is crumbling, there are holes in it, and it’s just not safe to use.
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“Stockingford is a very deprived area with a below average life expectancy. It seems only a third of young people get enough exercise. We need to do something to help.”
To help drive the project, they plan to reform the former “Ford Residents Association” and champion a long-agreed masterplan for the park, which includes a full skate park, bike zone and amphitheatre. Re-forming the group will pave the way for them to be able to access funds, with support already offered by the WCAVA team in Nuneaton.
Another crucial element is that Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council agree to the group carrying out the work. “We hope to have a meeting soon with Councilor Julian Gutteridge (cabinet member responsible for parks) to see if they will let us go ahead. If they say yes it will save them (the council) a fortune” , she added. said.
“We work with CAVA, who have their finger on the pulse with all the funding available and Rhian and I both have a history of project management and fundraising.”
The first meeting of the new former Ford Residents’ Association will be held at St Paul’s Church, Church Road, on Wednesday June 29. The duo said all are welcome and look forward to local support.
“I love young people, one day they are going to look after us so we have to look after them and we want to be able to do that for them,” said Gailyn, who helps coordinate the Christmas Day Community Dinner of Nuneaton. .
The meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. and everyone is welcome to join us.
