Rooksdown Skate Park: Enthusiast calls for beginners area

Rooksdown resident Cayleigh Burt is calling for a flat area to be constructed at Rooksdown Skate Park, Dinwoodie Drive.

She says that while the skate park is “great for confident skaters, can be somewhat daunting for cautious and unsteady beginners, who are just learning the necessary skills to move safely around more advanced skaters”.

The flat area would allow novices and beginners to practice stationary tricks ‘without taking up the flat areas between the existing ramps’.

Cayleigh, who has lived in Basingstoke for more than 10 years and began roller skating in August 2023, felt that the park was missing a space for beginners and young learners. 

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She said: “The skating community is amazing, I love the skating community, it's so inclusive, I’ve been included for the first time, it feels like in my whole life.

“So many children see me skating, and say ‘I could never do that’ and that absolutely breaks me, because you absolutely can, you just need somewhere to do it.”

Cayleigh says the proposed new space would be essential “for balance, to improve on more advanced things, like manuals, which are small footwork moves to build the muscle memory in your legs”.

The petition, aimed at the Rooksdown Community Association and Rooksdown Parish Council, currently has 200 signatures.

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One person who signed the petition wrote: “I use this skate park and as a beginner whom just likes to roam and turn left or right. This would benefit skaters like myself.”

Another said: “Young children need an area to learn balance without interfering with more advanced skaters.”

The skate park, built in 2018, currently includes an open bowl, mini ramp and street area.

The proposed space for the extension would be to the right of the skatepark, to ensure not disrupting Castle Hill Primary School and Basingstoke hospital. 

A three-metre-high acoustic fence to prevent children from hearing swearing from the neighbouring skate park was previously implemented in summer of 2023. 

To sign the petition, go to change.org/p/improve-the-rooksdown-skate-park-by-adding-a-flat-area-suitable-for-young-novice-skaters.