About

The park is open from 8am until 10pm, pleas do not use the park out of these times.

We strongly advise park users to wear a helmet at all times.

THE MAIN SKATEPARK IS RESTRICTED TO USERS AGED 10 YEARS AND ABOVE EVEN WHEN ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.   THE MINI-PARK WAS SPECIFICALLY BUILT FOR OUR YOUNGER MEMBERS.  YOUNG SCOOTER AND BIKE RIDERS ARE AT RISK ON THE MAIN SKATEPARK.

THE HISTORY OF SAFFRON WALDEN SKATEPARK

In 1999 Saffron Walden Town Council installed some skateboard ramps behind the Leisure Centre. A group of local skaters realised that this equipment was dangerous and vowed to raise funds for a “proper park”. They worked hard for the next four years to raise awareness. The Saffron Walden Skate Group formed in 2003 and has achieved the goal of building a state of the art concrete skate park. The Group is made up of young skaters, BMX bike riders, bladers and adult volunteers. Weekly meetings were started and everybody has been involved in the research, planning, fundraising and project management.

At the outset, the Group were determined to provide the very best skatepark and to do this went out to tender worldwide. The Americans are the experts in this field and at present there are no English contractors who can match their specialist skills. Dreamland Skatepark Builders came in with a competitive quote and a second to none reputation. They arrived on site on 12th March 2007 to start work. Our skatepark is the first American built park in England and is the foremost skatepark in the country.
The park is open from 8am until 10pm and is free to all. There is no other open access, free facility of this sort for young people in Saffron Walden.

So how did a small voluntary group drawn from the community manage to build such an amazing park in a small, sleepy town in North Essex ?
After much debate, the Town Council finally agreed that the old, unsafe ramps which stood on the site could be replaced, outline plans were drawn up and planning permission was granted. At this stage we had funds totalling about £50,000, consisting of a Government grant and the donations given in memory of Andrew Minet, a young skater who died in a road accident. However, it was now clear that in order to provide the world class park our skaters dreamed of, we were going to have to raise a lot more money !

In addition to the £50,000 already raised we needed to find more than £150,000 to cover the cost of the build which finally came in at £216,000. Not satisfied with our achievements, we continued to raise money to provide lighting, viewing area with bins and benches, an access path, landscaping and a youth shelter. All this plus professional fees brought the total sum to nearly £300,000. Not bad for a group of community volunteers and skaters !

Night after night was spent completing tedious funding application forms and organising fundraising events, but looking back, raising such a large sum of money was the easy bit ! The real challenge was yet to come. Having decided we wanted the Americans to build our park, we set about persuading them that we could overcome all of the problems that bringing them to England entailed !

The Group first made contact with Dreamland in 2003. We spent many nights hunched over the computer or phone building a relationship with Danyel and Mark Scott, the directors of Dreamland. This relationship was key to the future of the build. We needed to understand what they required on the ground when they arrived. To overcome the many differences in working practices and regulations and to reassure everybody involved, the Group invited a member of the Dreamland crew, Sage Bolyard, to come and meet us and to work on the skatepark design with the potential local users. Sage came over in early 2006 and spent many hours working on the design with the young people.

To address some of the legal difficulties it was agreed that the Group would have to appoint a main contractor resident in England who would subcontract the work out to the Americans. The main contractor would set up the site, supply machinery and materials. However, the shotcrete pump, steel coping and other specialist items were researched and sourced by the Group. The concrete pool coping was imported from the States directly from Dreamland’s supplier as it was found to be more cost effective and hard wearing than any that could be found in England. This sort of attention to detail was essential to keep the project on track and on budget and was evidence of the Group’s determination not to compromise the quality of this world-class park.

In a build of this magnitude and scope it was vital to have “hands on” project management which needed to be undertaken by people with a passion for the project. The Group were very fortunate to have the professional expertise and commitment of the District Council’s architect, David Demery. He also bought some credibility to the project when the Group were struggling to convince others involved that the innovative method of construction was the only way to go.

The Skate Group organised flights, accommodation and furniture, cars and insurance and did everything possible to ensure that the “Dream Team” could come to Saffron Walden and build our long awaited skatepark. The Americans arrived with families and girlfriends and during their stay many firm friendships were formed. A bond will remain between the skater/builders from Portland, Oregon and Saffron Walden skaters and volunteers for many years to come.

The One Minet Skatepark opened in June 2007 and has been a resounding success with the local users and with many other skaters who have travelled from all over the country, and a few from Europe, to skate the new park. All are in agreement that it is a world class park, the best in the UK and it has been voted one of the top five skateparks in Europe.