Stockwell Skatepark is to set to undergo a refurbishment costing £192,807. Lambeth Council has awarded the contract to Canvas Spaces Ltd after a competitive tender process.

No timetable is yet in place for the work. The Skatepark will close for a 15 week period whilst the repair work is carried out.

Councillor Sonia Winifred, the Cabinet Member for Equalities and Culture has been asked to sign off the report:

Design and Build Contract for the Refurbishment of Stockwell Skatepark [pdf]

This states:

“Due to its worsening structural condition, major refurbishment is required if it is to remain open.”

A sub-standard job was carried out by Lambeth Council in 2005. This led to further work in 2007 and 2008 after cracks appeared.

The Friends of Stockwell Skatepark formed shortly after to protect the long term future of the facility. Concerns were raised over who was responsible for the Skatepark.

The group managed to transfer this away from SW9 Community Housing control and back in the hands of Lambeth council.

£100,000 payment for the repair work will come from Network Housing Group. This is the developer that is building the new luxury apartments that will overlook the Skatepark. Cllr Paul McGlone of Ferndale ward is a Board member.

This funding is seen as payback for the land grab taken by the developer as part of the regeneration of the old Thrayle House site.

The Planning report [pdf] for the new build stated in 2016:

“The space between Thrayle House and the skate park is curtilage and not designated as a park with any formal protection. Its ownership is split between Network Housing and the Council. The open grass area is proposed to be replaced with a high quality plaza that will remain genuinely public with a mix of hard and soft landscaping treatments.”

This move was contested by the Friends of Stockwell Skatepark. The group told Brixton Buzz at the time:

“Our own proposals have been ignored throughout the consultation, to which we were not invited. This plan has been repeatedly put forward with little to no alteration or regard from views outside of the organisations professionally concerned with the outcome. Stockwell Skatepark will suffer significantly under these plans and as such they are a direct threat to the right of the users to enjoy this long standing and immensely popular facility.”

The skatepark has a proud history in the borough. It first opened in 1978 after initial funding from Lambeth Council. It is one of the oldest surviving skateparks in London.

Generations of Brixton kids have grown up learning to skate or ride BMX’s here. The attraction is that it offers free, unsupervised access at all hours.