Jon Dixon of The Oakham Skatepark Project has spoken about the rejection of the Centenary Fields proposal and is "motivated by the strength of support for the young people of Oakham" to renew the vigour of this project in the New Year.

On Wednesday 7 December 2022, there was outcry from Rutland residents at the rejection, by Oakham Town Council (OTC), of the proposed siting of the Oakham Skatepark at Centenary Fields.

Read more here.

None were more disappointed than Jon Dixon, who has worked on this project for nearly 2 years.

Now, Jon has spoken to Oakham Nub News about the rejection, and what comes next for this heavily debated local project.

John wrote:

So, it's been over two weeks since OTC voted against the proposal to support the skatepark located in centenary fields.

After some reflection, the disbelief and disappointment is still palpable. I was so proud of the 3 depositions that were presented to OTC on the night of the council meeting in favour of building a skatepark on centenary fields. The evidence for was compelling and what was surprising to me was that there was only one very brief deposition 'against' which only referred to a paper that was submitted and then retracted before the meeting.

Without visibility of the submission 'against' which was only referred to in the meeting it is hard to understand the democratic process of OTC, it didn't seem transparent to me which is why it has been difficult to understand and accept.

What I do think is the 'against' vote was likely based on a fear of teenagers and the assumption that it is only teenagers that use skateparks and that teenage skatepark users are badly behaved, antisocial and even criminal. This really saddens me because my experience of taking my kids to skateparks since they were toddlers has always been such a great experience of comradery, respect and a love of scootering, skating or skateboarding.

The resignation of Zoē Nealson was also a huge blow. I found her to be nothing but professional throughout the whole process, articulating in both the open meetings and the town council meetings that she was actively listening to all those who had a view on the location of the skatepark. She said, during the 2nd open meeting, that she couldn't in good faith vote in favour of the proposal if there was compelling and overwhelming evidence 'against'.

However, we have to accept the vote. I want to be clear that my objective has always been to campaign for a skatepark to be built in Oakham and I am committed to the cause. I have looked at other out of town options and I still believe Centenary Fields is the best option for Oakham.

OTC have suggested that they would like to consider alternative locations, but I have very little confidence that they can suggest a more suitable location. OTC only manage 4 open spaces in Oakham, which have all been thoroughly investigated already and are unsuitable for very clear, unequivocal reasons, noted in the working party papers.

So – what is the plan? We celebrate Xmas and regroup. I understand that the annual vote for our town councillors will take place and April – and I, of course am hoping for some changes…. In the meantime, I want to strengthen support for the skatepark at Centenary Fields and re-write the report specifically addressing areas of concern such as ASB, noise and the environmental impact. I fully accept that our case could have been presented more clearly and we now have 6 months to refine that, we have the experience of failure to push us forward to success!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people I've met along the way who have supported this project – especially those who have gone the extra mile and spoken out, given depositions, written articles, posted flyers and strongly campaigned in favour of supporting the young people of Oakham. I am encouraged and motivated by the strength of support for the young people of Oakham from people who do not want to vilify, neglect or give up on our youngsters.

I proud of all the young people who have attended the open meetings and spoke up with such enthusiasm. It has been amazing to see and it's been a joy that people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences support our kids.

Merry Xmas to all (even OTC!)

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