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New skate park in Liphook - Jane Ives (1st Jun 2014 - 21:35:18) There have been various postings over the years about building a new skate park in Liphook as the existing skate park is woefully inadequate and not fit for purpose. The Parish Council have recently voted in favour of using land at the Little Rec (behind the Bowls club) as a potential site for a new skate park. This means that we can now start fundraising. Many people expressed an interest in helping to do this and I am hoping to co-ordinate the effort. All monies raised will be held in a ring fenced account by the Parish Council. This will enable us as the landowner to apply for grants etc, but we really can't do this until we have some money to start with. I'd really like to hear from you if you can help in any way or encourage your kids to start some fundraising in a small (or big) way. For starters, the LiDBA bike ride is coming up next weekend and this would be a perfect way to raise some money. If you would like to get involved, or have any ideas about fundraising please email me at jives68@gmail.com Many thanks Jane

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Kat (1st Jun 2014 - 22:33:14) Find the flashing speed signs, sell them because the Council are not using them, and put the money towards the new skate park.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Sam (2nd Jun 2014 - 00:53:17) The present skate park it easily the No 1 place in all of Liphook that the local police are called out to each weekend, it’s a constant source of anti social behaviour, it’s littered with broken booze glass and is frequently the source of out of hour’s noise and disturbance. Am shocked that the development of a new stake park seems the be so welcomed when every resident that lives within 500 metres of it has to suffer the consequences of the riotous behaviour that goes on there day in day out. Is Liphook actually blind or willing to turn a blind eye to the vandalism and issues that take place each day at the present skate park location? I skated myself in the 70’s I appreciate that we need to provide facilitates, however I live close enough to the park to understand who uses it and also hear who misuses it, sadly those that use it are at best a dozen young teenagers whom in all credit to them have constantly positioned the skate park development as both necessary and fundamental to all Liphook youth, the reality is barely a dozen children in the village own a skateboard that they use more than once a month, yet social media and comment around the Liphook skate park would have you believe a thousand children a day are queued up at the present skate park bemoaning the poor facilities. Can we really justify spending 30k on a skatepark for a dozen kids? only to inherit or ignore the issues that are caused by a different aged and much larger group of children, to whom the present skate park is already a mecca for anti social behaviour and pissed up bottle throwing at all hours.. Thousands have already been spent on the skate park years ago, its currently both fit and proper for the purpose of skateboarding, sure it’s not some total bling park from san Francisco but the dozen that actually turn up to it could do with being happy that it exists as nearly every resident nearly wishes it didn’t due the problems we face once it gets dark.. Sam

Re: New skate park in Liphook - bob (2nd Jun 2014 - 10:05:23) This one is going to be over £70.000 may be they have so much money they don't know what to do with it

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Thea (2nd Jun 2014 - 11:00:19) My children, aged 7, 6 and 4 love going to Haslemere skate park where they use their scooters - properly equipped with helmets and knee pads! We live in Liphook and see a lot of Liphook children at the Haslemere skate park because the one in this village is small and not really suitable. I think some of the metal plates are coming away too making it hazardous. The bigger kids are very nice to the smaller kids and the atmosphere is great. We would love a skatepark in Liphook which can be locked up at night obviously to make sure it did not become a nuisance to residents.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Val (2nd Jun 2014 - 11:49:58) Totally agree with Sam and Bob. The reasons for are outweighed by the reasons why not. As was stated only a few use the park and this cannot justify spending the sort of money that is being talked about, plus the fact that I total sympathise with the people who live near one. I don't so I am not being a NIMBY.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Jay W (2nd Jun 2014 - 19:52:12) My children have always used the skate park (for skate boards and scooters) and so far as I am aware they don't drink, smash up bottles, damage the park or behave in an excessively rowdy fashion. Boisterous boys maybe but I think that's about all. They are also home at a reasonable hour. My children combined with their friends must be the "dozen or so" that use it then! That would be when I am not being asked to drive them over to Haslemere, Petersfield even Bordon because the skate parks there are much better. Hopefully the new skate park can be fenced in and locked at night to prevent damage. I'm sure there wasn't such an uproar when new play equipment for the Rec was suggested - and I'm sure the same unsavoury element of the village also gather there and continue to cause damage.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - CJ (2nd Jun 2014 - 21:19:53) I totally agree with Sam and I do live nearby. Most weekends I have to endure noise and extremely bad language in this area, and well into the early hours of the morning. Sam is correct when he refers to the police being called on many occasions. There is absolutely no consideration whatsoever for nearby residents. It will only worsen if this goes ahead - very unfair for those of us who live close by.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Editor (3rd Jun 2014 - 11:25:12) An interesting local story (not totally related to this thread) .. See Petersfield wheelchair skatepark planned

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Phil (3rd Jun 2014 - 15:49:22) Sam, the kids you.mention in terms of late night anti social behaviour, are they skaters or just local kids using the space as a hang out?

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Jay W (3rd Jun 2014 - 17:55:41) So Sam and other nearby residents - do you have an alternative suggestion? Why do you think having a better skate park will encourage more/continued anti social behaviour? Particularly as the anti social element are already hanging out near the current skate park. How could some of the money (yet to be raised) be spent in making things better for you as part of the grand scheme of things?

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Sam (4th Jun 2014 - 21:16:33) Hi, I would say the anti social part seems to be groups using it as a hangout in the later hours, however I couldn't state none of them are skaters nor hadn't been their during the day. As for alternatives, frankly I'd prefer it's taken down and covered in grass, a new improved stake park will make the anti social part worse as the facility will be even more attractive to those wishing to play around late at night and make more noise, a shiny new skate landscape to lark around on will become a Mecca, whereas the place old park might only be a option to go cause trouble. I understand neither of my suggestions will please the decent kids needing somewhere to play or the parents. My more reluctant suggestion is CCTV, or a locked fence around it after dark, however I have heard many other communities agreeing to such measures only for the budget to snip those conditions off in the end once the park is built, leaving everyone more unhappy. The present location is poor, it's hidden from view but not from sound, I think the location makes it even more attractive for those wanting an underage beer etc at night as they feel safely hidden from view. Finally am not convinced the sums of money involved is an efficent use of funds, has a secret study been done on exactly how many children equipped with skate boards, scooters etc use it each week? And by secret I mean not revealing the study so that they all warp the results by encouraging the whole town to skate for a week knowing the study outcome could be the decider. I would guess from living so close that no more than a dozen kids use it based in what it was designed for per week, and maybe a few dozen individuals over a year. If am right then the new park at 70k sounds like it's an easy spend of 1k > per child.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Inked M (7th Jun 2014 - 15:03:06) The reason you only see a few people use the Liphook skatepark is because it is so poor. With one of the ramps beginning to actually lift up from the concrete. When the park was first put in many years ago all they did was put ramps into a small section of the original grounds and didnt even bother resurfacing the area. I have skated for well over 15 years and can not skate at the Liphook skate park with any comfort or control due to the poor conditions. All you have to do is go and take a look at the skateparks in both Petersfield and Haslemere to realise how poor ours is. If you went to the Petersfield or Haslemere parks i can guarantee you will find kids from Liphook there, and if you ask them why they arent at the Liphook one they will tell you because it is so poor. Now i was part of the original fund raising for the first skatepark and now my own son skates himself, yet we choose to take him to Haslemere, Petersfield or even Grayshott because they are head and shoulders better than ours and 100% safer. Put simply you can not skate in our joke of a skate park because the surface is not good enough and we are in dire need of an upgrade. Yes you will get people up there that wont be using it for the right reasons but that happens up the rec at Sainsburys and even in the centre of the village, if we were to have better facilities more people would use them properly and you would get less idiots hanging around, just take a look at the other local skate parks for examples of that. Liphook seems to be full of bitter people who dont want anything to change because its been the same for all of the years they have lived here, but things do change and Liphook is getting bigger whether you like it or not and we will need bigger and better facilities otherwise you will be getting more and more groups of people hanging around causing trouble simply because there is nothing to do. If you dont like change go live in the woods.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Liphook Mum (7th Jun 2014 - 15:29:57) I think the New skate park is a fantastic idea. I often take my sons out of the area to haslemere, petersfield and also southsea, I also know a lot of other mum's that do the same. To have this facility in liphook would be a great benefit to many.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Mr Harper (23rd Jul 2014 - 15:34:40) Another night of anti-social behaviour at the skate park!! Seems we are now entering the worst period for late night bottle breaking and foul mouthed shouting into the small hours! Last night was fairly bad for anyone within a few hundred metres of the skate park. Summertime, warm nights and no school. Ten or so youths, no skateboards and plenty of bad language with another couple of bottles broke right up till midnight. At least the broken shopping trolley that was being loudly smashed around and dismantled throughout all of last week seems to have disappeared. Surely some money could be put towards installing CCTV on the back of the bowling club which would cover the skate park area and provide the police a method of tracking down the persistent non skating vandals that wish to smash things up and it would probably make those whom want to be anti-social think twice about ruining the village for everyone near to the skatepark.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Trevor Maroney (23rd Jul 2014 - 17:09:12) Mr Harper Did you call the police, and have you put your complaint in writing to the parish clerk? Understandably, the Council cannot take any action on Talkback postings.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Mr Harper (23rd Jul 2014 - 17:53:34) Hi, On this occasion I did not call the police but I have called the police on many of the occasions before. The back rec is a specific problem, the anti-socials are fairly protected from view and can clearly see all exits, when the police arrive they are instantly spotted and the mis-behaviour stops before a police office is close enough in the dark to identify what’s going on or whom is doing it. The yobs become polite and deny they are up to anything before being dispersed, the noise ends, a new day begins and they are back the next evening to do it all over again. This is why I am making the proposal to spend a very small amount of money getting recorded 24/7 CCTV looking over the whole skatepark which will be a solution as: 1. It’s a visible deterrent to those on the skatepark at night 2. Its a facility that the police can go get the footage of the bottle throwers etc and be able to take the issue further with proof, meaning offenders are booked for the offence, rather than the present situation in which they are simply told to go home. What is the contact details for the parish clerk? this needs to be addressed properly, those within a few hundred metres of the present skate park don’t want a new one when the present one isn’t being managed correctly and it making our lives a living hell.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Katie (25th Jul 2014 - 13:33:35) I don't see why anybody should disagree with a new skatepark being built. It would mean accessibility for younger people, who otherwise have to get parents to ferry them off to Petersfield or Haslemere. Perhaps people are right in saying that it's not going to fix the problem with antisocial behaviour - but it's not going to make it worse either. Perhaps other methods could be used to try to change this - but arguing against a new skatepark being built is surely not the solution. My young cousins who live in the area would certainly love this new skatepark, and I know many of their friends would too. There is currently little for young people in Liphook (apart from playgrounds), and this would be a great way to make this village suitable for all age groups. A new skatepark will surely be a great addition to our village.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Amy (25th Jul 2014 - 22:04:01) There is absloutly maff all to do in liphook if you're young. a new skate park might work but how many young people actually skate? I'm fairly young my self and can tell you from experience that if you're too young to drink then chances are all that's left to do is either stare at a computer screen or hang about outside with your friends.. Okay most young people can actually behave them selves and do so quietly but you do get the rest who might be just plain yobs and sadly even if you removed the old skate park, installed cctv and had high police presence it will still happen just somewhere else in the village as they simply have no where to go or the money to do anything..

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Damien (8th Aug 2014 - 18:37:38) I was one of the children that helped get a skate park in Liphook all those years ago and what we asked for and what we actually got were two very different things. I think if proper investment was put into that site that the skatepark is at now and made larger i think a lot more people would go there. Look at Petersfield's / Haslemere's skate park its packed all the time and i hear customers ( i'm a tradesmen ) kids always say they are off to Petersfeld or Haslemere. New estates are being built every month but where can these kids go.... liphook sadly has nothing to offer. The one plus is the football team but not everyone likes football... I don't skate or have anything to do with that anymore but this issue is over 10 years old...

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Richard (8th Aug 2014 - 20:54:49) Any new spending on the Skatepark must come with CCTV to deter those whom are misusing it late at night.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Harry (4th Jul 2015 - 20:01:31) I know this post is a bit old but I am an avid skateboarder that is moving to Liphook soon and after seeing photos of Liphook skatepark it is not surprising that people are asking for a new skatepark (including myself). I currently live in Haslemere and the skatepark here and the one in Petersfield often have many people there on a day to day basis. I have seen that there is actually a Facebook page about the the skatepark from a couple of years ago that already has numerous designs featured for a new skatepark. Skateboarding has actually grown a lot among the youth in the area and i know if there was new skatepark built then there would be a lot of people gathering there, especially if it was designed like the posts on the Facebook page. As for the anti-social behavior at the skatepark now, if a new one was built, it would cut down due to more people going to it. If you look at the main parks near Liphook such as Petersfield, Haslemere and Guildford there is almost no behaviour like this at all. I think it should become an objective of the council to get behind the funding of a new skatepark as the current one is a hazard and doesn't serve any purpose as a skatepark anymore and I know it would be beneficial for the town.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Sam (5th Jul 2015 - 20:39:22) Harry the present site is tucked away from view and on at least 2-3 nights a week its occupied by non skating young adults typically making loads of noise and or smashing up a trolley, Last night we had a group till 12ish whom am pleased to say did show some respect and sat quietly chatting, their behavior and noise levels were mannerly and decent. But this isnt the norm at all. Also Haslemere & Petersfield have much larger populations than Liphook, Liphook is very lucky to have what it presently has, Bordon, Alton, Hindhead, Liss, Headley, Milford etc do they even have a skatepark?

Re: New skate park in Liphook - marcus (7th Jul 2015 - 15:42:58) a few years ago i attended a meeting at the millennium hall. a load of people turned up a few parish council members i believe. and we all wanted a new skate park and we arrange this skate park company to come design one .. i think they might be the same company that did the petersfield bowl. i believe it was estimated at around 50k to over 100k. there was fun raising ideas and stuff. but no one had the motivation to raise the money so the plan fell apart would be lovely though

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Trevor Maroney (7th Jul 2015 - 16:31:20) A skate park should not be considered in isolation. The village requires more sports pitches and facilities, particularly for football, cricket, tennis etc. LUFC being a case in point. All these will require funding not just a skate park. There is the concern, raised by surrounding residents and sports clubs, that the current skate park is in the wrong place. A debateable point I know, but one worth considering. This consideration has been included in the Bramshott & Liphook Parish Plan, which is almost complete; we are currently finalising the Action Plan. This should be added to the website, www.liphookplan.co.uk, within the next 3 weeks. What we, as a community, need to decide is where the priorities lie and how we should raise the funds; sums considerably more than that quoted for a replacement skate park.

Re: New skate park in Liphook - vil lag er (7th Jul 2015 - 19:02:49) I recently learned that the Bohunt Park folks, GVI. put forth a traffic proposal to make a one-way system through that stretch from London Rd. to Haslemere Rd.Clockwise from there. In that proposal they offered to relocate the skate park. Obviously that is predicated on approval of there development which I don't actually support but I thought the idea for a one-way system like that was a pretty good idea. A bit off topic but I thought I should mention that alternative plan before a replacement skate park gets on the drawing board at that site. Yes, I can hear all the slagging to come for this post but think about the fact that the village is growing and so is the traffic. The narrow sidewalks on Haslemere Rd. are dangerous for pedestrians. My arm was hit once by a car mirror along there. A one-way system would make for a smoother traffic flow for sure. OK, fire away....

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Jay W (7th Jul 2015 - 21:33:42) Hi Sam, just to say, yes Bordon and Alton do have skate parks - I'm still driving my kids to those "better" skate parks. Think there is also one at Milford or I might have muddled that up with a homemade bike track! Don't you think the anti social crowd will continue to congregate there skate park or not? It's a fairly central, out of sight, open area - isn't that the issue rather than the skate park?

Re: New skate park in Liphook - Sam (13th Jul 2015 - 21:07:56) If there was no skatepark and just green grass am near 100% certain they wouldn't hang out there, the place is a magnet for late night noise, 3 different exits, plenty of cover and out of direct sight of most houses and plenty of things to sit on or under. Looks like any hopes of peace are shattered now anyway with the report of a one way road going through the back rec?? Is this serious ?!

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