Investment set to see skate park lit up

A planning application has been submitted by Blackpool Council for a scheme to install six solar lighting columns, each eight metres high, at the skate park in Stanley Park.

Architects Cassidy and Ashton, which has submitted a design brief for the scheme, says the investment will make the site more secure, particularly in the winter months, and complete the recent refurbishment.

In the past, the site has been a target for vandalism.

Funding for the new lights has been secured from sources including £10,000 from the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner.

The lighting is one of eight new projects from across the county being supported as part of the Commissioner’s Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund using money seized from criminals.

Other funding is from sources including Tesco and the council.

Documents submitted with the planning application, say: “The proposed scheme seeks the installation of six solar lighting columns along the boundary of the skate park, to provide illumination during the darker, winter evenings and allow the safe and secure continued operations of the skate park, and assist in the prevention of anti-social behaviour.”

The lights would only be operational in the dark evenings so are not considered detrimental to the heritage of the park. Nearby netball courts are already floodlit in winter.

The application says: “Therefore, the works proposed have been designed to have as little impact upon the conservation area and registered park and garden as possible, whilst providing the necessary works to improve the safety and security of the site.

“Given the nature of the proposals, it is not considered that the works would affect views into and out of, or affecting the setting of, the identified heritage assets. “

The skate park has been built for use with scooters, skateboards and bicycles.

A £220,000 refurbishment of the site was completed in May 2022 with stairs, ledges, rails, curbs, quarter pipes as well as a mini ramp built to test riders’ skills.

Support came from the council, the Friends of Stanley Park plus funding from Sport England and Suez to meet the cost.

But within a few days of opening, the facility was vandalised with graffiti.