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Shawn
Allen is the Trustee for Bridge park - a new permanent purpose-built
skate park for Skateboarders, BMX bikes and in-line skates. He
had been working on an appeal to set up the skatepark for many years.
"We had a major meeting at the town hall - that was nearly three
and a half years ago and with that we saw there is a need and want
for a general skatepark and BMX park in Ipswich.
"To
actually get it built it’s only taken us about 5 months, but initially
to get all the money and the funding, it’s taken about 3 years -
to get all the permission from the lottery and the council,"
said Shawn.
Shawn
Allen at Bridge Park - Ipswich Skate park |
There
has
been great support from different sectors of the Ipswich community
for the skatepark, including from the council.
"We’ve had a lot of support from the police, from the council,
from general members of the public and from small businesses that
have helped get together funding for the whole thing, like independent
retail and even the bigger ones like Willis Corroon have supported
us in our cause," said Shawn.
Shawn
explained that the reason for setting up the skatepark in Ipswich
was due to the huge demand from local skateboarders and BMX riders.
"Basically
because skating is not allowed on the street, it’s an illegal
sport. There will probably be a BI-law now, so we can’t skate
in the street. There’s so many children and adults wanting
to go skateboarding or ride a BMX or even go roller-blading that
we need a general place where everyone can practice their sport.
"I’ve
been in Ipswich for approximately seven years now and ever since
I’ve came here there’s always been a group and a community
of skaters that I’ve hung around with - and we’ve just
skated different places - it just takes so long," said Shawn.
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Shawn Allen & Ben Jones at the Skatepark
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The
Ipswich Skate park was launched back on 24th March. Shawn recalled
how successful the event was and how he has since had positive feedback.
"Very
successful. We had approximately 200 people from all over the country
come down and the newspaper and different radio stations and magazines
came down. Everyone was very impressed with how it all went and
it all went smoothly.
"We
had a demonstration by some professional riders and then it was
a free for all basically and everyone got to ride the park. Everyone
enjoyed themselves and had a good day out of it.
"I’ve
had a lot of people come down from London and surrounding areas
and they’ve been to this park and they’ve said it’s
really good. We’ve had loads of positive feedback from it,"
explained Shawn.
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