More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Two skate veterans are trying to secure their vision of a million-pound Thanet skate park - and are even being backed by one of the world's most famous artists.
Margate-based Tracey Emin has pledged an additional boost of £100,000 to help push the proposal over the line, which was submitted as part of government funding intended to give the town's economy a much-needed lift.
Nic Powley started the petition to raise support for the park plans
Dan Cates and Nic Powley - under Margate Skateboard Club - succeeded in getting their million-pound skate park proposal included in the 38 possible recipients of funding awarded to Thanet District Council (TDC).
£22.2 million was made available as part of the government's £3.6 billion Towns Fund - Margate is the only location in Kent to receive such funding.
The scheme aims to support urban regeneration, skills development and improved connectivity by giving each place its own Town Deal.
But the money falls short of the original submitted bid of £29m - meaning some projects will not make the cut.
Refusing to see their project crash and burn, Nic Powley, who owns Skatepharm on Marine Drive, started a petition to enlist more public support for their ambitious plan.
Nic said: "The funding was slightly less than they applied for, so there's a chance that if the skate park isn't shown enough support, it could possibly get dropped off the list."
The 49-year-old believes out of the project proposals longlisted, their skate park is one of the few that would offer something different to the surrounding area.
He said: "I looked at them and there was a lot of arts-related stuff, stuff that was for middle class adults. This is one of the only projects that would appeal to rich or poor, visitors and residents.
"I'm not anti-art but Margate's already got a thriving arts scene, it's got a huge gallery and numerous other galleries - and there's Arts Council funding for that sort of stuff.
"Yet skateboarders of Margate have been trying to get a skate park for thirty years now."
The proposal would see the park built on the site of a derelict crazy gold course in Cliftonville - the very same spot where the community came together to build a make-shift skate park in 2013.
But in March 2014 TDC deemed the park a safety hazard and had it flattened. The site has been left unused since.
Other skate parks have been built by the council in the past, including Hartsdown skate park which has been standing since 1976.
But Nic believes their project would be offering something far more bespoke - not to mention led by people who are well-versed in the industry.
"There's absolutely no reason why the next Olympic champion for GB skateboarding couldn't be from Cliftonville, no reason."
He said: "It's a once in a lifetime thing and if it doesn't get done right it'll be used as an excuse. 'Oh yeah, we built a skate park, but no-one uses it.' Yeah, 'cause it's rubbish.
"Or they'll build something that's like £50,000, and say 'yeah we've ticked a box.'"
The project has also coincided with a significant PR boost for the sport, as it prepares to make make its debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in July.
And if the project becomes a success, Nic - a founding member of Skateboard GB - believes future Olympic competitors could discover their talent on the half pipes of the Thanet skate park.
He said: "There's absolutely no reason why the next Olympic champion for GB skateboarding couldn't be from Cliftonville. No reason."
Dan Cates submitted the bid to the Towns Fund Deal
Dan Cates has spent the last 20 years travelling all over the world competing in and judging skating competitions.
Having lived in Margate for the past six years, he believes the skate park proposal could offer significant tourist benefits too.
The 45-year-old said: "If you look at Southbank in London, the undercroft of the Royal Festival Hall which has been basically an unofficial skate spot since the late sixties.
"Look at the tourists just crowding around on any given weekend there, or somewhere like Venice Beach in California where there are swarms of tourists watching the show, just watching people skate.
"They're intrigued by it, it's a free show to them."
The professional skateboarder is also adamant a skate park with that significant a budget would put Thanet on the map for the urban sport.
He said: "There's plenty of skate parks already that people make a yearly pilgrimage to.
"So if we had the right design, the right build and this large budget, then we would have the best skate park."
Dan and Nic's petition has been attracting significant support since going live earlier this week.
Steph Hopgood wrote: "Creating safe spaces for young people to enjoy a passion, make friends and get exercise is so important - I really support this."
While Felicity Lewendon wrote: "Skateboarding is now an Olympic sport! Come on Thanet District Council lead the way, this will bring huge tourism to Thanet and put Thanet back on the map.
"Skateboarding has significant physical health benefits, it is great for the kids, teenagers and adults alike, its great exercise, good for your mental health and wellbeing and you couldn't meet a nicer bunch of people."
The pair decided to launch the petition after hearing rumours that North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale had spoken out against the project behind closed doors.
But Mr Gale - also a member of the Town Deal Board - has dismissed the rumours.
Responding to KentOnline's request for clarification, he said: "I suspect that I know the source of your gossip and you have been misinformed.
"That said, the funding available is less than that requested and some hard choices will have to be made. I suspect that only projects capable of leveraging additional investment will make the final cut."
Dan echoes those in support of the skate park project and said it would give young people a place to call their own.
He said: "Skateboarding has been shown to be a remedy, for the younger generations anyway - to give them something to do, to keep them out of trouble.
"So they're not selling drugs or whatever bad influence it might be, it's something positive to focus on.
"And I think skateboarding teaches young people a lot of things.
"If it teaches you nothing else, it teaches you that if you don't succeed at first, you keep trying, you keep trying until you make your trick."
Skateboarders without a park to use often resort to street skating, which has lead to numerous fines being handed out by police officers.
Last month an officer attempted to detain a young skateboarder in Canterbury, who was skating in multi-storey car park in Station Road West.
Nazy Rai told KentOnline there were no other safe places for them to practice, and that the nearby Thanington skate park was "unsafe."
It led Brent Lewis, of FAR Skate Foundation, to urge the city council to give young people a place to skate.
Elsewhere in the county, millions is being spent on a world-first multi-storey urban sports centre.
F51 in Folkestone is being built on the corner of Tontine Street and Dover Road, and is due to open this summer.
The multi-million pound project was first proposed in 2015 but has been subject to delays due to its complex design, escalating costs and previous issues with cladding, which have now been resolved.
While the Cliftonville park won't cost quite as much to build, Dan and Nic hope they could design and construct the entire project within a year of receiving the cash.
Dan added: "We're not going to budge, we're not backing down on this. We want the best skate park - this is our once chance and we're going to dig our heels in."
Madeline Homer, Chief Executive of Thanet District Council, said: "It is great to see that project sponsors feel so passionately that their project will bring the most benefit to Margate but we need to ensure that a fair process is followed to address the current funding gap, having bid for £29m and provisionally being awarded up to £22.2m.
"A framework is being put together to prioritise the projects against the original requirements of the Towns Fund programme, the priorities of the Margate Town Investment Plan and the Government’s business case criteria.
"This framework will be available to read online and we are committed to a robust and transparent process.
"At the end of February, all of the project sponsors were invited to a meeting and were advised that there would likely be a prioritisation process and what the next steps would be in the delivery of the Town Deal, as set out by central government."
