Skatepark Location

Location of any skatepark is a very important factor in whether the park gets used on an ongoing basis. There are several key points to consider here:

Accessibility. Easy to get to.

Users of the skatepark should be able to get there easily, using their choice of transport. Skatepark users are a range of ages, so public transport links should be good, ideally with parking nearby.

Attracting the right visitors

A skatepark should not (necessarily) be in or near a town centre. The reason for this is that it will affect what the skatepark is eventually used for, i.e. skating rather than sniffing glue. It is a good idea to position a skatepark in a place that average folk have to go out of their way to get to. This also decreases negative effects on local residents such as noise generated by the riders.

Skateparks should always be in a 'good' area. Council's have a tendency to allocate space to these sort of projects in areas of low value - because they perceive it costs them less. For us this is short sighted. Having a park in a better area means that the facility is more used - with the youth are more likely to travel there and parents less worried about their kids excursions. This makes the facility a much valued community asset, and increases the desirability of the wider area.

Local amenities.

The previous point considered, the skatepark should be near local amenities, so people don't urinate behind the ramps, or dehydrate because they cannot buy a drink.

To conclude, in the case of Greenwich, we believe the best location for the Millenium Skatepark is on the Greenwich Peninsula, a short ride from North Greenwich tube station.