HAYDON Wick youngsters took to their boards over the weekend as the parish council hosted the reopening of the area’s skate park.

The park was refurbished last year after an £80,000 investment but had its official reopening on Saturday

Council clerk Georgina Morgan-Denn said the facility is now more accessible than ever before.

“We did a soft opening last year but we had to take care of numbers in regards to social distancing so we held off on this grand opening this year," she explained.

“This area is going to be a diverse community hub for the younger generation.

“The track is purposely designed to be as accessible as possible for people with all abilities.

“Wheelchair users can come on and use it, kids can use the smaller areas, it’s multi-purpose and multi-age.

“We’re starting up girls only sessions down here also.

She said: “We’ve installed a legal graffiti wall and will start having regular workshops taking place, we’ve commissioned street artists to do this so it will hopefully protect the asset for longer.

“We want to nourish people’s creativity and give them somewhere where they can do it and it’s being safely looked after by councillors and members of the public.”

Skateboarding, face painting, music and a DJ were arranged for the event, which had Mayor of Swindon Garry Perkins and MP Justin Tomlinson as guests.

Parish Council chairman Vinay Manro reflected on an enjoyable afternoon. “It’s great to see so many people with us, the weather’s held off.

“We liaised with the youngsters about what they wanted," he said.

“It’s good to see a mixture of the community from young to old, it’s really nice.”

He revealed that the skate park now offers a venue for the parish council to consult with residents on further decisions to be made in the area.

He said: “It’s a central hub for us to engage with the youngsters and we can help educate and put them in touch with what they want to take forward.

“Rather than bring youths to an office and sit round the table, we’re going to do it here in the skate park and engage with them on our terms, it’s fantastic.

“We’ve had suggestions about workshops with the younger youths and the older ones said they would come along to them which is great.

“We strive to deliver what the residents want and this is an example of that, we’ve delivered what they’ve asked for.”