more build pics

Steels are in place for the bowl outline.


Know The Wedge

These aren't the final final pretty 3Ds which is why there are some glitches in places. Those are coming at some point, but as a lot of people have been asking I now have permission to post these.

I've made thumbs of the best 2 angles, and linked the other 2 angles below.

Dont forget There is a facebook group HERE where I've been uploading snaps, Including some from todays user group site visit.

The bowl is 4ft in the shallow, which spines over quite a lot of the way round in the snake run/ditch (which has a variety of crete copings, including burnside back corner style parking blocks down the long edge towards the half taco/hip). The pockets in the bowl are 7ft and 6 3/4 ft.



larger



larger


Other angle 1

Other angle 2

Wheelscape started on site Monday this week!

The design is an expanded and improved version of the one local users chose on the public design proposal review day (as we raised an extra £49,999 since then!).

The design is viewable in your local SOS, Ape Skates. Wheelscape are producing 3D renders which are coming soon.

Whether you're a member of facebook or not you can view pictures of the ongoing build on our facebook group The 'new' Hamilton Skatepark (Community Skatepark Project (Taunton)).

Yet more great news. We were granted a further 50k from Community Spaces over the Christmas Period.

This means the park will be substantially bigger than the 130k (approx) design selected by users during the event in November.

Wheelscape are pencilled in to start work at the start of February.

Wheelscape Sateparks have been officially appointed after being chosen by you during the consultation event and i've just had the call from Community Spaces (a lottery fund) saying we've been granted another £49,999.  This means the park will be slightly larger than in the design seen at the consultation event.

Construction starts in about a month!

If you're on facebook check out  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=298198395611&ref=mf#

This will be kept up to date with the latest developments and is a place once the park is done we can organise events and more.

From 4pm to 7pm on Thursday 22nd of October future users of the new park can vote and comment upon the designs submitted during the tender.

The event is being held in the Sports Pavilion buiding next to the skate park site.

The outcome of this event will help our group and the council select which design gets built early next year.

As you may well be aware Russ and myself (Rob) recently met with the top four british skatepark companies to discuss the results of our user survey.

TDBC have now put out a tender invitation for all interested parties. They must respond to this with information and concept designs by Sept 28th.

After a vetting process there will be a further round of user involvement to select the final design and adjust it before it goes to build in the new year.

note: We are still working on a final funding application for a further 50k. Concept designs will reflect both possible outcomes.

The invitation to tender can be seen here http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/LOemail/wider_propdetail1.cfm?codeID=4913&CFID=23628716&CFTOKEN=68833210 or here http://www.tauntondeane.gov.uk/tdbcsites/proc/Procs_Details.asp?ProcId=223&whichpage=1


In other news.

Russ's purpose built granite skate bench project is nearly done and the bench will be installed in Victoria Park within the next fortnight.

I am now also a stakeholder (member) of the new River Forum project, part of that is looking at some skate inclusion in a proposed redevelopment of Goodlands Gardens in the next few years.

Bridgwaters skatepark project has reached another milestone now planning permission has been granted. Estimated for completion in mid october is a small concrete park and a metal mini ramp at separate locations in the town both built by Maverick DBM.

Following on from the last update the final results of the user survey are now in.

Thank you to the 104 people who took time to fill out the survey.

The invitation to tender now starts in around a fortnight.

PDF of final survey results.  DOWNLOAD

As you may know we've been running a survey in Ape Skates for the past 6 weeks.

The survey isnt quite closed yet but time is running short. 

Here is a PDF of the collated results (including some bar charts) for the first 95 Votes we've taken.


DOWNLOAD

We're pleased to announce that TDBC has given our project £50,000 (from Section 106 / Developer Contributions).

This brings the total raised by the project to £148,000.



We are now at the point where we want to hear what YOU want from the skate park.

A user survey is available in Ape Skates from Fri 12th June, you have until the end of June to take the survey.

I'm pleased to announce that we found out today the application made by our Young People to Somerset Youth for Youth Capital Funding was a success.

The result of this is another £50,000 for the project coffers. Bringing the grand total raised to date to £98,000.

This means that a skatepark will be built this financial year. How big it is depends upon how much more money we can raise.

Yesterday (Mon March 30th) was the deadline for funding applications from Somerset Youth.

The Young People in our project have put in an application for £50,000, which, if successful would bring the total raised by the project to £98,000.

We should know the outcome of the application by mid April, and have another application lined up for another £50,000 from another source which will be sent off once we know.

We are continuing to work with TDBC and our Young People to find other funding sources, and to develop the project.

As I said in the last update, contact us if you hear of any other funding sources, or if you want to get involved.

Hi Everyone,

First off some good news.

As you may have spotted in the local press we just received £23,000 from the Taunton Unparished Fund (TUF) bringing the total amount raised by the project to £48,000. We're still short of our goal, so the priority is still on chasing funding. If you want to help the project give us a shout (here) and arrange to sit down with us so we can discuss how you can become part of our team.

On top of our few existing younger members we are forming a "user group" which after being formed will be taken to visit some of the newer regional parks and be tasked with working on funding applications that specifically require youth involvement.

The two questions always asked when we get on to the subject of the skatepark are:

1) Funding. This is still our primary focus. We have several applications in progress, anyone with knowledge of, or wishing to work on other applications get in touch (here).

2) Design. We will be approaching this in a novel fashion. Although there is an already obvious outline in place we will be using the outcome from skate park visits and project meetings to formulate a formal written design brief for "design & build" skatepark companies to work from.


Rob Linegar (Project Coordinator)

Hi everyone, here is the first 'extra' for the project site.

This will be expanded greatly when more materials are forthcoming.


A brief history of skateboarding in and around Taunton




A quick update on other noteworthy regional skatepark projects.

Chard skatepark was expanded in July to have a much wider smooth concrete floor area which opens up many more possibilities with the existing facilities. The next stage for Chard is their flood lighting, for which they have money. They are entering the tender process so it shouldn't be long. After that they will begin fund raising again for additional ramps.

Filton (Wheelscape, designed by Jeremy Donaldson) Under construction. No ETA, but it can't be far off at all. (Concrete bowl and some street elements)

Newton Abbot (Gravity Skateparks) Work starts on the 11th August and will be completed 6-8 weeks from then. (Large concrete bowl)

Truro (MLJ) Work had started and has hit problems of some sort. This will now be massively delayed and will be built by a different contractor. (Concrete bowls, Ramps and Street plaza)

Hello, Welcome to the official Community Skatepark Project (Taunton) homepage.

As you may have heard, project chairman Mark "Edgie" Edgecombe decided to leave the project in April 2008 after 5 years at the helm. During that time the project received £25,000 pump prime money from TDBC, Got permission to replace the outdated skatepark at Hamilton Gault Park and worked with the council, local skateboarders and an architect to create and gain Planning Consent for a design.

In his departure Edgie nominated Russ Squire to take over as project Chairman. He accepted. Long time friend of the project Rob Linegar was brought on board in the role of Project Coordinator. We thank Edgie for all the hard work he did as Chairman.

Since these changes we have worked with the other committee members to develop a flexible and pragmatic approach towards the project funding and design to take us into the future. What follows is a breakdown of our activities and areas of focus.

• Funding.
  
  Prior to the local elections last year the council pledged to build the skatepark, and campaigned upon this during their bid for re-election in 2007. They lost and are unable to uphold their pledge.
  
  Whilst they are supportive of the project, In the short term its not likely TDBC will fund a park, but we still hope that we can work with them so that money for the park can be found or budgeted for in the future.
  
  Whatever the outcome. We are chasing multiple funding sources and (where necessary) registering the project to open up further sources.
  
  This is our primary focus.
  
  
• Design.
  
  We strive for the skatepark that Taunton needs.
  
  Due to the funding difficulties so far we're in the process of rethinking the design to cover a phased approach. We have a goal of approx £150,000 for the first phase to cover things of the utmost priority. Potential future users will be pleased to hear there will definitely be a modest concrete bowl and an equivalent amount of skatepark plaza elements.
  
  We will not be spending anything in this area until we have funding for the park.
  
  Judging by attendance levels at other skateparks in the region, and as Somerset currently has nothing else like this it is anticipated the park will be exceptionally busy. To be pragmatic we decided, that unless additional funding materialises we will evaluate the requirements for the next phase against whats most needed at the park at the time instead of jumping the gun.
  
  
• We have four meetings scheduled with people from the council within August alone.  (Update: All Four done!)
  
  
• This web page provides a direct link for potential future skatepark users, young and old to communicate with the project commitee and each other. Future updates for this page will contain project details, information on the history of the project (including a Press Archive), and a history of skateboarding locally. We also try to keep up with the progress of other regional projects and will drop occasional news updates on those.
  
  

Comments and questions appreciated, (you'll need to sign up to the forum)

Rob Linegar
Project Coordinator
Community Skatepark Project (Taunton)