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St Helier's skatepark is due to close this month – with a planning application for a promised replacement yet to materialise.
The site at New North Quay will officially be shutting on 18 December.
Ports of Jersey have submitted a planning application to convert the area currently occupied by the skatepark into a freight-handling zone for port operations – part of its wider 'Master Plan' to transform the area and increase freight capacity.
Originally a car park before its transformation into a skate park in 2008, the New North Quay site will revert to its former use, in line with conditions forming part of the original planning application.
The Assistant Minister with responsibility for sport, Deputy Lucy Stephenson, said: “The New North Quay Skatepark was only ever designed as a temporary arrangement for 15 years, and its planning permit reflects that.”
She also said that a replacement town skatepark at South Hill, Mount Bingham, remains in the pipeline, despite previous attempts to get the idea off the ground having hit numerous hurdles.
Pictured: Lucy Stephenson at the Les Quennevais Skatepark opening. (David Ferguson)
“The team is working through some of the finer details before a planning application can be submitted," she continued.
“There’s money allocated in the Government Plan to allow us to move this forward as quickly as possible, and it remains a priority for both myself and the Infrastructure Minister."
This is part of a one-year pilot programme to create more skate facilities in town, with benches installed at Millennium Park for both sitting and skating in October.
Pictured: The original South Hill application, which was submitted in March 2021, was withdrawn earlier this year due to concerns over "heritage and ecology issues".
The Government have also confirmed that floodlights at the Les Quennevais skatepark will be installed early in the new year after the lack of lighting was criticised for limiting young people’s ability to skate after school as the nights start drawing in.
Skate-friendly street furniture built in time for harbour skatepark closure
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