A new skate park is set to open next month.

It has taken nearly a decade for the £240,000 Mill Skatepark, in Sittingbourne, to become a reality.

Clearance work started in March and, after a delay, construction began in July on the 570-square metre site behind Halfords at Sittingbourne Retail Park. Last week, the concrete was being poured in.

Swale council, which stumped up £200,000 to support the project, said: “Work at the new Sittingbourne Skatepark is well underway and we are hoping it will be ready to open in October.

“The park will be managed and maintained by Brogdale CIC, who hope to use the park for events, and to provide training and enterprise opportunities for local young people.”

David Green, of Eastchurch, who has been campaigning for the skatepark since 2011, said: “If it opens in October, that would be eight years from when we asked for one.”

The boss of Bird and Pest Solutions added: “My son approached me when he was 15 to ask if I could help them build a skatepark.

“It’s been a horrendous journey, but I would like to think we have given something back to the community and it will be a nice place for kids to learn some new skills and burn some energy off.”

The park has been designed and is being built by Gravity Skateparks and will include rails, grind banks, a jump box, stair set and a rotate platform ditch bowl, seating, bike racks and landscaping.

“There’s all sorts there, something for everybody,” Mr Green said.

He added: “We felt that Sheppey could do with a skatepark but it was built in the centre of Swale, a place that everyone could get to easily either by road, train or bus.

“This way, it’s easy for anyone to access, whether they’re on Sheppey, in Newington or Faversham.”

For more, go to The Mill Skatepark Facebook page or click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Sittingbourne

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