Draft North East Cambridge Area Action Plan

Mostly not

Public open spaces should be built to accommodate and encourage skateboarding, and I think the plans should give more consideration to this idea. I'm commenting representing the interests of Cam Skate, a newly formed and fast growing organisation that is providing a voice for skateboarders in Cambridge. http://cam-skate.co.uk/ Cambridge is not catering well enough for skateboarders in the city, almost all of our parks are not used because they are poor quality and the one functional park, Jesus Green Skatepark, is therefore very overcrowded, despite being in a state of disrepair that can be dangerous. We're seeing an explosion of skating right now. Coronavirus is forcing people to pick up new hobbies they can do in a social and safe way outdoors, and the olympics has provided mainstream legitimacy to this sport and artform. All of this is going to exacerbate what's already a major shortage in skate facilities in the city in the next few years. There's an unmet need but we're also arguing that it's a good thing to bring skating into public life. Skateparks don't attract anti social behaviour, skateparks placed in "out of sight, out of mind" areas attract anti social behaviour, and are therefore less accessible for beginners, or the rapidly growing group of women and girl skaters. If North East Cambridge is able to accommodate skating in its public spaces, it is going to bring more life to these spaces and make them safer for everyone, by turning them into destinations, not just ways to go from A to B. What does this look like? - Smooth ground and open space - Street Furniture that allows for skating (e.g. benches, planters that have smooth edges and can withstand skating) - Design that allows skaters to co-exist with other users of the space. - Dedicated skateparks - Consulting with skaters in Cambridge for their specific needs (this is something Cam Skate will be happy to facilitate, we can also provide examples of this being done well in other locations, and already do on our website). Integrating skating into small neighbourhood greens and the linear park and green high street seem to be great opportunities for what we're describing. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to give our feedback.