Will Bournemouth ever get a full-time ice rink?

7:00am Thursday 26th November 2009

By Louise Dunderdale

That’s the question being asked by some senior councillors after the timetable for providing a rink at King’s Park slipped back again.

The news comes just as a temporary winter ice rink is to open next Saturday at the BIC.

In September, deputy council leader Cllr John Beesley said he expected an outline planning application for the King’s Park site to be submitted by the end of 2009 after years of discussion.

But yesterday the council said the goal was “early 2010” for a £35,000 budget to take the project through to outline planning consent.

Independent councillor Ron Whittaker said he felt the council administration’s “heart and soul” was not behind the project.

“I don’t think there’s a real commitment to have this facility. I want them to prove me wrong.”

He warned: “If the developers interested in this project withdraw after all this time, we have lost any chance of providing this facility.

“We have been messing these people around for many years. They are still hanging in there.

“If the council carry on as they are at present and keep pushing it back – we are paying out for feasibility studies and consultants all the time. At the rate we are going, we could have built the facility ourselves!”

Cllr Whittaker called on the council to appoint an “ice rink champion” from within the council’s cabinet to push the project forward.

Boscombe West Conservative councillor Phil Stanley-Watts said an ice rink would be a draw for families.

“There was a Christmas rink at Boscombe but for some reason they are not having it this year,” he said.

“When there was a temporary rink there was a lot of people came to enjoy it. They would pay a visit to the shops as well.

“Bournemouth has lost these attractions over the years. They have got to try and get a few more to attract the tourists.”

Michael Rowland, the council’s leisure policy manager, said in a statement: “There is currently more than one organisation that has expressed an interest in developing an ice rink at Kings Park.

“We are now working with a planning consultant in order to undertake all the necessary site assessments before we submit a planning application in early 2010.

“It has taken longer than expected to reach the planning application stage and this is due to the additional time we have needed to source the most value for money and cost-effective quotes for the detailed planning assessments.

“We are working as quickly as possible to progress this project within budget.”