Skate Park at
Vansittart Road Recreation Ground
Update 30th
July 2001
Major problems persist
with the Skate Park installation at Vansittart Road Rec. Although
we are told that during the day a staff member from Windsor Leisure
Centre has been sent to look after the area for the school holidays,
no action has been taken to prevent the noise and endless disturbance
to local residents in the evenings or at night, especially during
the recent very hot weather when it is impossible to keep windows
closed.
As an example, on the night of Saturday/Sunday, 28th/29th July,
teenagers were using the skate ramps until past midnight. An
elderly couple, residents of Kipling Court, directly across the
road from the skate park reported that their weekend had been
"made a misery" by the incessant noise caused by skaters
jumping and crashing down onto on the iron ramps. During the
day it was impossible to sit in their garden area as the noise
was so intrusive, but they elected not to report their problems
until 11.30 on Saturday evening when it had continued for so
long that they were now unable to sleep and they, and their patience,
were exhausted.
As a result, a local resident walked to the park on their behalf
to ask the skaters to leave, which we are pleased to say they
did, quietly and politely, when the distress of the elderly people
nearby was explained. Regrettably, a second group arrived at
the park a little while later and it was not until 1.36am that
the couple, by now so desperate to sleep, felt that they had
to call for something to be done for a second time that night.
Fortunately, shortly thereafter, all but one of the troublemakers
had left and all was now quiet. The remaining individual was
asleep on the top of one of the ramps. Both these incidents were
reported to the police with a request that they be logged.
These two incidents are particularly worrying as the elderly
couple involved are not in the best of health and could well
do without the imposition by their local authority of this additional
and unacceptable source of disturbance.
The matter also highlights precisely our concerns that the skate
park has already become, and will continue to be, the cause of
endless instances such as these until the skate area is moved
to a sensible location.
This is not an isolated example. We are receiving regular reports
and complaints about the noise generally and about the noise
and safety implications of skate boarders travelling to and from
the park at speed, both on the pavement and on the road. Some
properties, particularly the terraced homes in the area, are
suffering this noise pollution just inches from their windows
from early morning to late into the evening on a very regular
basis. Skate Board user organisations recommend that skaters
do not ride their boards in public places due to the obvious
risks.
Residents look forward to hearing a date for a meeting with local
borough officers as proposed during the official opening on July
13th plus the planned steps to "encourage [the skate boarders]
to respect both the new facilities and the needs of those who
live nearby" as reported recently in the Borough's publication
'Around the Royal Borough'.
At the time of writing there has been no response to any of our
letters or reports to Maidenhead Town Hall although local councillors
in Windsor have responded positively to residents' concerns.
Summary
The noise emanating from
the Skate Park lasts in excess of 13 hours each day. It is worth
noting that this is not a regular noise but an irregular crashing,
which is almost impossible to endure over an extended period.
During daylight hours, the residents of Kipling Court and the
surrounding residential areas will have to endure this situation
continually throughout the summer months, and beyond. In the
evening, as temperatures drop, a wider area is adversely affected
as sounds carry further. This to our mind constitutes a totally
unreasonable imposition on residents' lives.
All local residents are as one in insisting that the Skate Park
facility must be moved to a suitable location, away from residential
areas, full details of which are available here.
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