A SKATEPARK in memory of a schoolboy who died in a bus crash has been approved at a planning panel meeting.

The final piece of funding for the Kie Park project in Whitehaven was secured earlier this month and planning officers unanimously approved plans for the 800 square metre landscaped, spray concrete skatepark.

The Friends of Kie Park committee has spent the last three years working tirelessly to make the facility happen and is now delighted that plans have been given the green light.

The facility, which will cost around £250,000, was dreamed up as a tribute to Kieran Goulding, 15, one of two teenagers who died in the Keswick coach crash five years ago.

Concerns by a scientific officer were raised in the planning panel meeting because the park will be built on land between Roosebeck Recreation Ground and Overend Road, Hensingham, which was used as a landfill site in the 1970s. But the panel was convinced that these concerns would be addressed in the park’s construction.

The park will be a modern freeform concrete skatepark with seating areas, associated earth mounding and soft landscaping. It will feature facilities for street, rhythm and bowl styles of skating.

It will include a number of obstacles which will be suitable for a range of riding styles and be usable for skateboards, scooters and BMX bikes.

Planning officers approved the scheme because they believe it will provide a valuable leisure facility for the area and regenerate the site. They also noted that the project has received a lot of support from local youngsters.

At the planning meeting, Copeland councillor Charles Maudling said that the skatepark would be built for a “very, very worthwhile cause”.

Tracey Nicholson, Kieran’s mum, said: “The kids that came on board with the charity from day one were told that it wouldn’t be an instant thing and would be a long project.

“They have been fantastic and carried on over the years supporting and coming to meetings.”