Skaters who say they have been forced out of Manchester city centre have taken matters into their own hands — by building their own park in Ancoats.
The DIY facility is built on the former Central Retail Park and is nicknamed Goose Side — after a family of goslings were found which the skaters cared for. Since starting up three months ago, the community has installed ramps, banks, and obstacles to use.
However, the skaters say they have only set-up shop where they have because there’s ‘no other place to go’. That’s down to the council ‘targeting’ them with a city centre bye-law, according to Patrick O’Donohoe, who is the skaters’ liaison with the community.
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“Everybody is fed up with the council. They don’t bother us here,” O’Donohoe told the Manchester Evening News. “There are two indoor places which are £8 for two hours. Platt Fields has space but the wood can be run down and the screws are sticking out. There’s a park in Trafford, too, but that’s small. 10 people is too many.
“Other parks are built by people with no idea of skating. The council has pushed us out because of the by laws that prohibit wheeled activities — but we are the only ones targeted.”
O’Donohoe added the group began calling Central Retail Park home after other hotspots in town — Lincoln Square and Urbis — became untenable to use. Since then, they have made the former retail park their own.
The 25-year-old support worker continued: “The community have put £200 in, there a skate shop that put £500 in. They helped us buy supplies. We have sourced most of it, and we’ve got the barriers in as an obstacle.
“Red Bull’s skate team came about a month ago, they offered us some ramps. They had some pro-skaters like 2019 champion Jamie Foy. They had a demo here, and on Go Skate Day Red Bull were here again.
“We opened it because DIYs are community driven, so we have built a bank. We built one thing and then you build as you would follow the skate path. It’s more than just a sport. It’s a lifestyle.”
On Go Skate Day — June 21 — hundreds of people turned out on the longest day of the year to join in the celebration of the now-Olympic sport. Such was the noise generated that residents nearby could hear the cheers of skaters landing tricks, with under-10s and over-50s all welcome.
However, the park will not be around forever. The site is earmarked for development, which could include an office complex, the MEN understands.
O’Donohoe, who lives in Northern Quarter, added: “I know some people would rather it stay like this forever but it won't. It could be a big park with a skate park. We are happy here until they start developing it.
“It’s always been an outcast thing but it is not the same thing as a destructive thing. It is a community but we are not getting anything from the Council.”
In response, a council spokesperson told the MEN that officers would look to ‘engage’ with skaters in certain circumstances. Its statement added: “Ensuring that public spaces are welcoming and safe is important to the Council and its partners.
“There is a byelaw in place which prohibits people from skateboarding in the city centre in a manner that is dangerous or causes nuisance or annoyance for others. Officers will look to engage with the people who are skateboarding to provide information about the byelaw."
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