Skate park campaigners in Forres fear their £750,000 dream has been pushed back another seven years.
Enthusiasts have been longing for new ramps since the previous facility near Forres Academy was shut in 2006.
A bid was made to Moray Council to secure a section of Grant Park for a new facility.
However, councillors instead told the group to wait for a review. This was to examine whether the current Forres Academy site could house a multi-sports facility once the school is demolished.
Campaigners now fear they could be waiting until possibly as late as 2030 to showcase their tricks. This is despite assurances the land could be ready in as few as three years.
Would Forres skate park plans divide community?
Forres Skate Park Initiative was formed as an independent charity in 2019 to spearhead the campaign for the new facility.
The group, which has backing from the Berry Burn wind farm, says it has already examined other sites in the town. These include Bogton Road, Roysvale and on Mannachie Road.
Grant Park was chosen as its favoured option due to it being close to lighting and toilet facilities in the park, near High Street businesses and it also being on a bus route.
A survey run by the group got more than 1,000 responses supporting the concrete ramps.
However, Moray Council says it received “48 unsolicited letters” objecting to the development from other park users and residents.
It sparked concerns within the authority the plans could divide Forres amidst “anecdotal” evidence some are not even aware of the skate park project.
‘Skate parks don’t encourage bad behaviour’
Councillors have now decided to explore the current Forres Academy site when the existing school has been knocked down. This is to avoid potential legal issues with a skate park on Grant Park, which is maintained by the council on behalf of a trust.
Shaun Moat, development officer for Forres Skate Park Initiative, explained the group was “gutted” after working with the council for several years on the Grant Park plans.
He added: “As the only major town in Moray that does not have an all-wheeled sports facility, and with Inverness leading the way by recently opening their third skate park, it is about time that the community voice was heard.
“The young people of Forres should be provided with the facilities they have so desperately been campaigning for, for over 18 years.
“It is no longer acceptable to ignore the growing popularity of wheeled sports and the opportunities such a facility would bring to all sectors of the community.
“We need to recognise and move away from outdated thinking, that ‘skate parks encourage anti-social behaviour.’”
Mr Moat added that the proximity of Forres police station to the proposed skate park site in Grant Park would also help to deter anti-social behaviour.
Could Forres Academy site be ready quicker?
Forres councillor Scott Lawrence described the situation in the community as “difficult” with two opposing viewpoints about a skate park at the foot of Cluny Hill.
The SNP representative believes complications with Grant Park’s ownership by a trust could make the process there even slower than waiting for the Forres Academy site. The new school is expected to be open in late 2027.
There are also special planning conditions meaning there is a “presumption against” changing the use of the park. This is despite Forres Skate Park Initiative’s insistence the facility would comply with the leisure vision of Alexander Grant. Mr Grant donated the park to the town in 1924.
Mr Lawrence added: “This looked to me like a process that would take years upon years to get through and, even if successful, then appeals at each stage could end up with Forres having no skate park in the near future or at all.
“I decided to ask council officers to look at what might be possible when the current Forres Academy building is flattened.
“The new school has started its first stages and it is possible could be done in three years.”
Mr Lawrence’s alternative suggestion to review the Forres Academy site was unanimously supported by other councillors.
Forres Skate Park Initiative has organised an event to show support for the project on Saturday, November 4 at Grant Park at 10am.
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