A grant for nearly £180,000 has been secured to build a skate and BMX park for young people.

The money has been provided by the Big Lottery Fund’s Children’s Play programme and will be used to build new facilities at Cozenton Park, Gillingham,

The park will be designed for skateboarding, BMX and in-line skating. It is hoped that work will be completed by May, 2010.

The park will be built by volunteers from the skills and training charity Groundwork Kent & Medway.

Kim Price, Groundwork’s landscape architect, said:“This is a really exciting project which when completed will be a major asset to local young people.

“The project has the support of Medway Council and the police and we look forward to working with the local community during the planning and design stages of the project.”

Cllr Howard Doe (Con), portfolio holder for frontline services, said: “This exciting venture will help develop the growth of cycling and in-line skating in Medway, while giving young people the chance to keep fit and have fun at the same time.”

An initial community meeting has been organised for January 13 at 7:30pm at the St Margaret’s Millennium Centre, Rainham. Staff from Medway Council and Groundwork Kent and Medway will be explaining the project and informing people on how they can get involved.