SKATELAND WICKED NEW SKATEPARK FOR NEW MILLS OPENED ON SATURDAY 2nd FEB 2002

New Indoor Skatepark at Hibbert St off Albion Rd

Local entrepreneur Sean Lally is to be congratulated on a brilliantly successful opening day at SKATELAND - the High Peak's first indoor skatepark. Dozens of young skaters gathered at the converted warehouse off Albion Rd for the opening on Saturday 2nd February, to see this splendid new attraction and to take advantage of the first 200 free annual memberships, which were soon snapped-up.

With the help of family and friends, Sean has single-handedly delivered a much-needed skatepark for the kids of New Mills, ahead of many aspiring local towns who are still at the planning or fund-raising stage. In the short time since being made redundant in September 2001, Sean has seen his half-pipe dream through the design, planning-application and construction phases to create a facility which will greatly benefit skate-boarders and in-line skaters from New Mills and around.

SkateLand is open 7-days a week - between 3-9pm on weekdays and 10am-9pm on weekends. Membership is £4, and members will pay £3 for 90mins, £4 for non-members. Being a bit of a 'cheap-skate' I asked some young skaters what they thought of the pricing and the facilities - "Well cool". There are on-site toilets and a large car-parking area. Developer Sean Lally can be contacted on 01663 745000.

See also SkateParks on Issues section