(and Lottery Bid)
This superb photo was taken by Paul Parsons on Sunday. I think this says it all.
Gareth Evans from ITV Meridian returned today to interview and film parish councillors, and youngsters who have been using the skate bowl. A short news item can probably be seen on ITV's 6.00pm news programme sometime next week. A photo of Gareth talking to Cllr Mark Edward (project manager) is shown below plus a photo of the Parish Council Team in their Big Lottery T-Shirts (Cllr Mark Edwards, Cllr Nigel Nunn (PC Chairman), Clerk Ray Huskisson, and Snr Assistant Clerk Sue Wicks).
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After a scare with the weather earlier in the morning, the Skatepark duly opened yesterday in the sunshine, albeit in slightly windy conditions. Our MP, Nick Herbert, duly declared the park open and the fun began for the hundreds of people who turned up - a great family event enjoyed by all those who attended. Angmering Parish Council chairman, Councillor Nigel Nunn, took the opportunity of thanking his vice-chairman, Councillor Mark Edwards, for managing the project so successfully and bringing it to fruition. Below is a selection of photos from yesterday's event.
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The poor weather last week prevented some of the planned work taking place. However, work has accelerated now and, provided exceptionally bad weather does not intervene within the next couple of days, the bowl will be ready for this Saturday's Grand Opening. Our MP, Nick Herbert, will open the Skatepark at 12.00pm on Saturday and Splash FM will be providing music and broadcasting from the site via their studio. (see poster).
Steel seats (pink and blue) are in place, the wooden rails surrounding the bowl have been completed, and the signage at the entrance has been installed as can be seen in the photos below. Also shown are photos of the concrete spraying in progress today and the hand finishing to provide an extremely smooth surface. These skilled workers have come all the way from Newcastle to carry out the work.
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The Parish Council has announced that the Skatepark will be opened at a ceremony at 12 noon on Saturday 19 July, 2008. Everybody in the village is invited and there is no entrance fee. There will be a pro-skateboard demonstration, fair with bouncy castle, big slide, gyroscope, sumo suits, BBQ, refreshments, stocks & wet sponges, stalls, etc. (see poster).
In the meantime, the Skatebowl progresses. From the photos taken today (see below), it will be seen that steel edge rail is now in place and the perimeter track reinforcing bar steel mesh has been laid awaiting concreting next week. Some of the wooden safety rails are now in place around the bowl. At the rear of the photos, it can be seen that the youth shelter and goal/basketball post are now in place, having been moved down from the playground/green area at the centre of Bramley Green. In the right-hand photo, the earthworks of the BMX track can be seen.
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The bowl is taking shape and has been rough concreted all around as can be seen in the left-hand photo below. Above the bowl and to the right, preparation can be seen on the bases for some play equipment that is going to be moved down from the central recreation area in Bramley Green. In the photo on the right, Pete is in the process of removing spoil from the excavated bowl to create a BMX ramp (behind him).
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The first concrete was laid on Monday 16 June which took the form of a large reinforced block on the bed of the bowl. The main contractors, Persia Plant Ltd, have had Pete and Bill on site doing the construction work since the first day, but now have the assistance of Kerry from their office who is interested in getting involved with the building of skatebowls. Today's photos are shown below.
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The project has been delayed due to the poor weather recently. However, Gravity's contractors arrived on site yesterday and the surveyor marked out the exact dimensions to allow digging to begin. Today excavations started in earnest (see photo below). At its deepest, the skate bowl will be 6 feet in depth. It is expected that the bowl will take about a month to complete.
On 30 April 2008, the constructors of the skatepark, Gravity Engineering Ltd., carried out a final site survey prior to its building. This included some ground marking. The actual construction will commence on the week beginning Monday 19 May 2008.
In the photo below, Councillor Mark Edwards, Chairman of Angmering Parish Council's Environment & Leisure Committee, sprays the first marker point watched by Sue Wicks, the Council's senior assistant clerk, and Brendan from Gravity Engineering.
It is with the greatest pleasure that we have learned this afternoon that the Angmering Parish Council Skatepark project achieved the most votes after yesterday's telephone poll and accordingly has won the £80,000 grant from the Big Lottery's People's Millions Fund.
Congratulations are due to the Parish Council for the enormous amount of hard work they put into this project and others who have contributed, but especially to Councillor Mark Edwards who spearheaded the publicity campaign and put in so much personal effort. What was heartening was the cooperation between various organisations from the village that worked so well together to achieve this success.
However, thanks must go to everyone in the village and the surrounding districts for their votes and their help in encouraging friends and families far and wide to vote for the Angmering project.
While we are caught up in the euphoria of winning, our sympathies are also with our rival bidders, the Highcliffe Residents' Association, who did not manage to secure the money on this occasion. We wish them well.
ITV Presenter, Gareth Evans, presented the Big Lottery Fund cheque for £80,000 this afternoon at The Angmering School. Here are a few photos of the presentation:
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Angmering Parish Council’s bid to win
an £80,000 lottery grant for a skateboard park for the youth of the
village received a massive boost when it was announced on 31 October 2007 that
the project had been shortlisted to take place in an ITV Meridian South news
programme with a public vote. 
Angmering’s bid will be pitted against another youth project in Christchurch and viewers will be invited to vote for one of the projects on Wednesday 28 November 2007, the day the programme is broadcast. The projects will be featured during the 6.00pm news programme and the voting lines will be open from 9.00am to midnight on that day. The one that receives most votes will be declared the winner and will be offered the £80,000 grant.
The Angmering project would use a piece of land at the south end of Bramley Green (beyond the housing) to create a designated play area and skateboard park for the young people of the village and surrounding area. The grant would be used to purchase and install a new skate facility.
The facility would feature a concrete skate bowl that is considered the best option for duarabilty in the longer term and would require little maintenance. The bowl would measure some 18.5 metres (60.7 feet) by 12.5 metres (41.0 feet).
Filming of Angmering’s project took place by ITV Meridian on 13 November at The Angmering School and on the proposed site with Meridian's presenter Gareth Evans carrying out several interviews for the 2 minute film to be shown on 28 November. A number of photos from the shoot are shown below:
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| Cllr Mark Edwards is not going to be left out of the action! Fall off and he's had his chips! | (l-r) Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr Nigel Nunn discusses the project with Parish Clerk, Ray Huskisson | |
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During the filming, a number of students from the school were interviewed as was Angmering Parish Council Chairman, Nigel Nunn, and St Margaret's Church Youth Worker, Neil Coleman, who did much to organise the filming with the children. Cllr Mark Edwards and Parish Clerk, Ray Huskisson were on hand to provide support and additional information to the film crew.
Commenting on the project, Angmering Parish Council Chairman, Nigel Nunn, said: "It was the children and youth of the village who came up with the idea of a skatepark. They felt that the community has nothing for them, so we're trying to give them what they want. The bowl could also double up with roller-blading and cycling, and there is the possibility that a mountain-bike track could be included".
Phone Voting
We will not
know the telephone vote number until the day of the vote but it will then be
published on the Big Lottery website, the Daily Mirror, here on the Angmering
Village Life website and, of course, when the film goes out at 6:00pm.
Telephone voting lines will be open from 9.00am to midnight on 28 November.
Up to 10 calls can be made from any telephone line. After 9 votes you will
hear a message to inform you that your next vote will be your final one. After
your tenth vote you will hear a message to confirm that it was your last vote.
Calls to the voting number will be charged at the standard national rate
call charge for a BT landline, which will cost less than 10p if calling from a
BT line. Calls from other providers or from mobiles could be higher. There
will be no text voting but Typetalk users should dial 18001 before the number
they want to vote for.
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The video of Angmering
Parish Council Chairman, Cllr Nigel Nunn, appealling for votes at The Angmering
School during the making of the ITV Meridian film on Tuesday 13 November 2007
can now be viewed on our Photos and Videos page. |
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Other Publicity See also Littlehampton Gazette article dated 13 November & photo Chichester observer call for West Sussex to vote for Angmering project |