New skate park plans in Hereford

Hereford’s skate park is to be extended, both physically and in its use by the community.

The planning application is by local charity Wheeled Sports 4 Hereford, which has a long lease from Herefordshire Council on the 900-square-metre site, a former car park off the A49 Holmer Road to the north of the city which opened in 2006.

The group has appointed Betongpark, a London-based design and construction company specialising in skateparks, to plan the new area.

The firm says it has held “multiple rounds of public consultation… in order to inform our final design”.

The result will encourage a broader range of users into the skatepark, as it “lowers the threshold to entry whilst ensuring that it remains challenging and engaging”, it says.

The free-to-use park is for BMX-ing, scootering and wheelchair sports as well as skateboarding.

To combat anti-social behaviour, the area will be “full of vantage points with clear lines of vision across the site, void of secluded spaces”, it explains.

There will be “minimal changes” at the boundary with Holmer Road, with plans showing the new installations lying largely to the west side of the existing park. Road access and parking will remain unaffected.

Areas of the smooth concrete surfacing, some of which is to be edged with steel, “could be mixed with pigment to better assimilate with regional natural tones”, the design statement suggests.

No advertisements or commercial signs are planned to be installed.

“Studies have shown the connection to these skatepark communities improve both physical and mental wellbeing, providing free facilities for all, which is becoming ever more important in the current cost-of-living crisis,” Betongpark adds.

Subject to approval, construction will begin this August and be completed by December, the application says.

Comments on the application, numbered 231697, can be made until June 27.