Work starts on new Lochgelly skate park

Cllr Judy Hamilton (front) alongside Cllrs Linda Erskine and Rosemary Liewald with pupils from Lochgelly South and Lochgelly West Primary Schools, member of the Public Park Improvement Group, Bendcrete Skateparks and council officers.

Councillors recently met on site with pupils from local schools to mark the milestone with a sod cutting.

Cllr Linda Erskine, Convener of the Cowdenbeath Area Committee explained: “Providing new or upgraded skate park facilities has been a priority in the local area for a number of years and it’s great to see the project delivering.

“Work beginning in Lochgelly Public Park marks the last of the area’s five new skate parks and this will complement the multi-use games area that was built in the park last year. We’re grateful to the children and staff from Lochgelly West and South schools to help us mark the occasion.”

Councillor Judy Hamilton, convener of the Community and Housing Services Committee, added: “A huge amount of work has gone on in local communities over the years to get us to this point. The enthusiasm from skaters and local groups to help deliver solutions that are supported by them is much appreciated and already proving worthwhile in the popular skate parks that are completed.

“There are big differences in the levels of health and wellbeing across Fife’s communities. We’re tackling that in a number of ways and providing safe outdoor spaces for people to access free sporting activities is a good example of how removing the barriers to physical activity can help to reduce health inequalities in the long term.”

Lochgelly’s new floodlit concrete skate park will be around 400 square metres in size and is funded from the Council’s Cowdenbeath Area Capital Budget.

The project benefitted from input from the Lochgelly Public Park Improvement Group and Lochgelly Community Council.

Construction work is expected to be complete by the end of the year, weather dependent.