Southsea the saga continues

[oldmankev]

After now taking 3 odd years to decide who they want to
run the park the council have extended the decision time
for another month "for negotiations" so the new deadline
is now Nov 1st as to whether it will close or be run by the
interested party.

[theRuler]

hope it gets taken over, and i can be attending the KOC next year

[TwoBobRob]

I've got some questions.......


So, the 'interested party' - the council decides whether they can run it or not?

And if its 'not', then the park closes forever?

Can no-one else tender for this work?

Do the council deep down actually want it shut?, or do they not have faith in the 'interested party'?

How much of a burden is the park?,  I know that under Peter Hawkins control the park actually made money.  Is that no longer the case?

Is there only one 'interested party?  If so, why?


Jeez I'm nosey........


I might as well throw my hat in to run the place; after all I've welded half of it over the years.....   

[billstup]

I think the problem will be health and safety and public liabilty insurance Rob, and the fact that the council want a load of money as well 

Still it could be set up as a charity like skaterham I suppose 

[dirtyvans]

i hope they sort it, there's feck all else on the south coast

i wonder during which years it was the quietest? i would have thought now with the exposure of 'extreme' sports on tv it would be full of skaters/bmx's ect, but its usually quiet down there

[TwoBobRob]

Well, during the 90s   (quiet years to some)  every time I went there to work, the place was mobbed.


As for insurance,  unless the place now has a host of claims lodged against it, or has failed an inspection than it can be insured.  Hell, its been insured since christ knows when. Next year should be no different.

I just don't understand how this park in particular should be forced to close when its so well established.  It's not like it needs £250,000 startup money   

[billstup]

I ment the cost of the insurance Rob, and I think the council wanted something like £80,000 for a five year lease 

Could be wrong about the lease mind, but Kev should know 

[TwoBobRob]

I understand.   What I don't get is why the council feel they need money from it at all.  Do they make money like that from all their parks/play/sports activities?

I don't think so.

That park can stand on its own two feet. They should just let it be.  It's a big part of the community down there and that should be worth way more than a poxy 80 grand.


I know I'm being overly simplistic about the whole thing, and I know I'm not saying owt new. It just pisses me off when councils and the like muddy the waters and end up worse off than when they started.


One things for sure.  We can definately do more than 80 grands worth of damage to ledges, rails and walls in that town......... 

[oldmankev]

Bob will try to answer all your questions, i dont know how many went for the
tender but pete was one of them and as soon as he saw it he realised what
the council wanted could not be viable for a profit making business this is
what is still holding things up for instance they want to let the Rollerhockey
lot back in which means moving all those ramps out the rink all the time.
When theres no street course theres no paying customers, we charge less
just for concrete/spine mini/ and vert. The ramps get damaged when moved
once so doing it all the time is pointless for the very small amount of kids who
still play hockey.Also the shop there have a contract with the council that they
own all the advertising rights to the park and they want a cut of any sponsor
ship money that goes with any comp hence why KOC aint on Red Bull and
Carrhart aint gonna give 20k only for loads of it to go to a Kite shop. The
plan is to only open in the summer months but if it closes i dont think it will
open again after 5 months of being empty and vandalised and burnt down
by chavs. Will post any news as and when. Kev.

[dordymush]

man this is some sad reading  .

[TwoBobRob]

Cheers Kev,  that makes a lot of sense.   Sounds to me like the problems lie with the shop and not with the park......

Hopefully someone within the council will see sense.  As you say, once shut for the winter, it may never reopen.....   Just out of curiosity, I wonder how much rent the shop pays to the council. And the hockey team and (i assume) the clubhouse?

And I also wonder if they share that £80,000 burden.  Doesn't really add up to me.  I can see why Peter would have given it a wide berth.


Dordy, you right. It's very sad.  I don't really like the park as a riding spot, but the scene down there is brilliant and I've made some good friends along the way. It would be a tragedy to loose it through greed