Skatepark plans forge ahead after £200,000 raised

Work is due to begin on Botley Skatepark in September

A campaign to build a new skatepark is close to fruition after it received £200,000 in donations and grants.

Botley Skatepark, on the Louie Memorial fields in Oxford, will be the replacement for the Botley Bowl, a previous skatepark that was ruined in an arson attack in 2009.

Work is due to begin on 2 September.

Ag MacKeith, a councillor on Botley and North Hinksey Parish Council, and chair of the Skatepark Working Group, said she was "delighted".

Ms MacKeith, now 74, appealed to the council to build the original park in the late-1980s as her son was a skateboarder.

She has been pushing for a new one ever since the previous one was vandalised in 2009, when a van was driven into it and then set alight.

"I’ve spent years and years trying to make this happen and when it finally does happen I’ll be able to die happy," she told the BBC.

The FCC Community Action Fund gave the project a £100,000 grant, the National Lottery Community Fund gave £20,000, and Cumnor Parish Council provided £10,000.

Botley and North Hinksey Parish Council will contribute funds from its Community Infrastructure Levy, while money has also been raised through the Botley Sk8s group, which has organised local events such as film showings, roller discos, and quiz nights.

Planning permission was granted last August. The council said the new design "took two years of vigorous discussion by a representative panel of skaters and parents".

While the park is expected to be completed by Christmas, its official launch is planned for Easter.