Lewisham Council’s commercial ban at Folkestone Gardens Skatepark, Deptford.
Subsequent to raising concerns about the encroachment of the planned play area onto the skatepark, we have been informed by Glendale and Lewisham council that all commercial activity at the skatepark is to cease.
After raising concerns about the plans for Folkestone Gardens, and urging the council to get advice from professionals who are experienced with siting skateparks within play areas, we were asked to formally apply for a license to perform our lesssons.
We supplied all the material requested, including our SkateboardGB accreditation, insurances, DBS checks. We met Glendale at the skatepark to talk through what we do, and how we do it. No concerns we raised, nor reported to management. We asked that reasonable license fees were levied, due to the fact that we work with local families, and that we want to keep the service accessible.
A few days later however, Glendale emailed us to say that Lewisham Council has decided that all commercial activity at the park is to stop. We asked for a reason for this, and it has not been forthcoming. As such we are asking about the appeal process, and will be making a freedom of information request in an effort to understand the reasoning behind this decision.
Unfortunately the decision is:
- making the skatepark more dangerous place
- preventing children being active
- affecting the livelihoods of our coaches
Lessons continue on a donation basis
For the time being we are going to continue the classes on a donation basis, because we feel that the youth of the area deserve a service like this.
The suggested donation is £10, which goes directly to Coach Rick. School of Skate will continue to manage the bookings on a loss making basis.
What can you do to help?
We have received messages of support from you, our customers. Thank you for those. Currently the only contact we have regarding this matter is Laura Cherry. Please feel free to email her about the situation. You may also want to talk to local councillors or the MP. Please message us if you’d like to help/get involved.
Corporate bullying. No other way to describe this. Local Authority staff know that they can get away with anything as laws of accountability are practically non-existent. Even when they are held to account, it costs so much (time, effort and money) that most people can’t afford to pursue this line of action. And for those who do pay to pursue it, the worst that happens is that they are told to apologise – but apologies don’t change their future actions.