OVER 60 children and young people attended the launch of a new £180,000 skate park which has opened in Rossmore.

The Bourne Valley Skate Park now features a range of different sized ramps for people of all ages to use following the fundraising efforts of the Bourne Valley Action Group.

It has been 18-months in the making, says Kerry Manning from the Bourne Valley Action Group, on land which was previously unusable for local children.

She said: "It's an absolutely fantastic facility. Before we had a number of young people playing in the street, which is unsafe and an ageing facility across a main road, which wasn't suitable for the younger children."

She said that young people from the area decided that they wanted to do their bit to fundraise for the park and contacted the Big Local: Funding - Big Lottery Group, who provided 99-per-cent of the money for the works. Kerry added that the young people then had to make up the other one-per-cent which they did by organising a host of events for their fellow Rossmore residents with the support of Poole Housing Partnership.

"It was truly amazing as we had about 200 visitors to the park across the opening weekend. To see it being used now is great because it was an abandoned eyesore before.

"I think the Big Local: Funding has shown us that local people can make a difference to where they live."

Sue Mitchener, director of Maverick, a Poole-based firm who created the spray concrete skatepark, said: "Maverick's design team worked with Kerry and the local riders to design the skatepark for Bourne Valley, and supported the Bourne Valley Action Group in speaking to Borough of Poole and the planning authority to ensure that their requirements were met.

"The park design is positioned to take account of the existing footpath, access and the surrounding area, in particular the SSSI site."

She said that it has four separate areas including a large bowled miniramp, jumpbox run, spine ramp and street section, with all four sides of the park featuring retaining walls to minimise the visual impact across the park.

She added that 'Well-designed, user group supported concrete skateparks are proven to reduce anti-social behaviour and improve social interaction.'