A campaign to build the first ever skate park for a village has begun.
And it is a group of young people from Marsden who are leading the drive to have one created near the centre to stop skaters using the grounds of St Bartholomew's Church and give their peers somewhere exciting to meet.
At their first meeting held on Wednesday night, 20 young people, adults and all three Colne Valley ward councillors attended to hear the plans of the youngsters who came together under the recently established Marsden Youth Group.
Although no plans have yet been submitted, they earmarked unused land by an existing ball park in Marsden Goods Yard past the Marsden Moor National Trust office as a potential location.
John Shone, who founded the club which is trying to create more social opportunities, said: “It was great to see so many different people interested in the plan.
“The idea came about for two reasons.
“Some young people use the ramps and stairs at the church to skateboard but they’ve started damaging it and it was suggested to us that we try find a proper spot for them elsewhere.
“The spot in the Old Goods Yard would be perfect because it’s out of the way of houses, there’s a good amount of space and it’s close to the centre for people to get to.
“At the moment the ball park isn’t really used because it’s in a bad condition so we would plan to have that renovated at the same time.
“If we manage to create one it will also mean that young people have somewhere to go and meet others, including people from around the Colne Valley who we hope would want to come to it.
“At the moment there is no permanent hub for young people. We’ve got the park but if we want to go to a youth club with a base we have to go to Slaithwaite."
A second public meeting has been planned for November 18 at the Mechanics Hall at 6pm.
John added: “We hope to have some expert speakers who can give advice on the specifics of our plan.
“We’ve got people interested in helping us fundraise and we’ll probably start by building one section of the park and adding to it over time when we get the money if we are allowed to build it there.
“Having the support of the councillors is great.
“We think this could be a really good idea for the village”.
For more information or to express an interest in getting involved with the campaign, email John at littleisramon@yahoo.com
