GUERNSEY is getting an extreme sports park.

After a 20-year battle, BMXers and skateboarders have won their fight for a venue to call their own. The Guernsey Extreme Sports Association has commissioned a £45,000 mobile skate park, which will move between different locations until a permanent site has been agreed with the Environment Department.

‘There is a site in the plans,’ said association chairman Deputy Mike O’Hara.‘

We had a site planned before but we had to abandon that after we received criticism about possible high noise levels. ‘We have looked into the possibility of another location but we will not announce it until we have had full approval.

‘The Liberation Day skate park will become a permanent skate park – the legacy of this will remain.’

The association proposed a skate park at the BMX track at Beau Sejour, but complaints by residents in the area halted its development. Before a site has been approved, the tennis court-sized structure will be placed on a trailer and moved to different locations and events.

Association member Jon Bisson said 6.6 tonnes of steel had been ordered to construct the park, which will be built in just five weeks by Turx Engineering.

‘It can be easily moved and deployed to a different location in several hours.

‘People don’t want a skate park in their back garden – now we have a situation where it can be moved from place to place until we can put it in a permanent location.’

Lee Stillwell, a former Channel Island skateboarding champion and director of Bonsai Wood Flooring, has sponsored the build of the facility.

‘I think we need to have more things in Guernsey for kids,’ said the 33-year-old.

‘Skateboarding and extreme sports at the moment is growing at an amazing rate but Guernsey seems so far behind the rest of the world.

‘We had a skateboard park at Beau Sejour 20 years ago and nothing has happened since. Having something in the long-term makes sense.

‘The park will keep them off streets, provide them with a group environment, it’s proactive and keeps them fit.’

PJ De La Mare, who has long-campaigned for a skate park at Beau Sejour, said youngsters who took part in extreme sports had got a bad reputation.

‘I’m not saying that all kids that do extreme sports are trouble – they just enjoy the adrenaline rush. By providing them with a permanent facility like this, they will have somewhere to exert all their energy.’

The Guernsey Sports Commission has contributed considerable funds towards the development of the skate park.