Skater's bid for new town park

By jnuttall

A BUDDING teenage entrepreneur wants to take the town's skate park to new heights.

Fourteen-year-old Rory Underhill is pleaing to Mid Sussex District Council to put forward a grant to improve the skate park in East Grinstead and h e will manage the project.

The Sackville student, who has been skating since he was 11, thinks the town's skatepark at the Olympos centre is in desperate need of improving.

"Haywards Heath have just been given a £30,000 grant for their new skate park to be built. If they can have it, why can't we? This skate park is just too small, it's always packed. It's just not big enough for the town," he said.

Rory was encouraged by his mum, Kim, to attend an East Grinstead Town Council meeting to ask the councillors for their support in his quest.

The Lower Mere resident said: "I want to get some support behind us. The councillors told me it was a district council matter. They said they would get on to it with the district council. I'm expecting things to get done and I'm very determined to get it done."

Rory said around 50 skaters use the park and more people are starting everyday.

"If we get a better skatepark here, it would mean less people skating in the town. We have to pay £2.50 to go to Crawley if we want a decent skatepark. If we had one here, it would take so many people."

The budding project manager said if they got a grant he would contact designers and help draw up the plans.

"Everyone would get together to help," he added.

His mum Kim Underhill said she was proud of her son.

She said: "Everyone sees them as unruly kids but they just want to skateboard. They just want to be active and want somewhere they can skate after dark."

A spokesperson from Mid Sussex District Council said: "When we receive the request we will look into it. We are committed to providing play opportunities across the district and have a number of exciting projects on the go at the moment."