Skatepark threat to Abbey Lawn

Bourne is blessed with several green spaces for sport and recreation although the Abbey Lawn has been in public use for longer than any other, a tranquil place for the people of this town to relax, particularly during the summer months.

But there are now fears that this peace and quiet may be destroyed by a more modern sporting craze with the opening of a skateboard park which would involve concreting over part of the green sward that has been an attraction for generations. Whether such a project sits comfortably with the traditional use of the Abbey Lawn is a matter of conjecture but judgment cannot be made without an understanding of its history and the affection with which it is regarded by the people of this town.

In times past, the land formed part of the grounds of Bourne Abbey although the public were allowed to use it at the discretion of the vicar. There is no record of access ever being restricted or anyone being banned from using the Abbey Lawn for sporting pursuits and so it became the town's unofficial recreation ground and has been in use for such purposes for at least 200 years.

The land was eventually acquired by a syndicate of local businessmen who rented out the rights for cricket and football but when it came under threat from housing development, Bourne United Charities stepped in and bought it for the benefit of the town.

The purchase in the sum of £700 was sanctioned by the Charity Commissioners in January 1931 and the trustees completed the deal with the intention of preserving the land as an open space and sports ground for the town in perpetuity and there has been a continuous programme of improvement ever since.

Football has been played there for almost 140 years, one of the first games being recorded in 1871. The present Bourne Town Football Club dates from 1897 while Bourne Town Cricket Club’s activities date from 1803 and the facilities have become greatly enhanced under the present ownership, making the ground one of the most attractive in Lincolnshire. Bourne Tennis Club played on courts in Burghley Street for almost 100 years until the site was sold in 1958 when the club was saved by Bourne United Charities and a new set of courts were opened for play at the Abbey Lawn in May 1959.

There was once a putting green here (circa 1965). a great attraction during the summer months when visitors could spend an enjoyable hour or so for a small fee, a very popular pastime, especially for courting couples on hot and sunny Sunday afternoons when the ice cream man was waiting nearby with his Stop-me-and-buy-one pedal cart. Quoits was also popular and competition was keen whenever visiting clubs arrived from surrounding towns while hockey was played here from 1921 until recent years.

Bourne Town Bowls Club which occupies land on the far corner, dates back to 1953 when it was known as the Abbey Road Bowling Club and a brick built pavilion was completed in 1977. Next door is the Outdoor Swimming Pool, formerly the carp pond for the monks of Bourne Abbey but taken over by BUC in 1922 and now greatly enhanced as one of the few remaining lidos in England. In the eastern corner of the Abbey Lawn is an enclosed court for petanque, a type of boules played in France which gained popularity here after the town twinned with Doudeville, Normandy, in 1989.

The Abbey Lawn has been the venue for many other activities over the years such as maypole dancing by schoolchildren on May Day during Victorian and Edwardian times, the annual Whit Monday sports, a notable feature during the 19th century which continued for over 30 years when top athletes from around the country competed, and even ladies’ cricket matches. Church feasts and treats were celebrated here and gatherings for other national and royal occasions such as Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee in 1887 and patriotic meetings and military parades during two world wars.

Over the years therefore, the Abbey Lawn has been a focal point for the people and synonymous with the community spirit here in Bourne.

Skateboarding has now become a possibility following a decision by the trustees of Bourne United Charities five years ago to hand over a plot of land at the Abbey Lawn, 46 yards by 35 yards, located behind the main football pitch, to be developed as a concrete skateboard park run by Dimension Skatepark which has been campaigning for such a facility in the town for almost thirty years.

The decision has brought many complaints about the possible noise, parking difficulties, health and safety, the nuisance to residents of nearby houses, unruly behaviour and criminal damage which might result, while Bourne Civic Society has lodged a formal objection to the planning application pointing out that the project is contrary to the guidelines regulating our Conservation Area which has the Abbey Lawn at his heart.

The decision to allow a skatepark to be built at the Abbey Lawn was taken by the charity trustees in April 2012 despite having repeatedly refused permission for a Victorian style bandstand to be erected in the Wellhead and War Memorial Gardens even though this would be fully funded by volunteers with no requirement for outside financial assistance.

No one would wish to deny supporters the chance to open their own skatepark but common sense dictates that a less sensitive location would be preferable, notably the Wellhead Field which already caters for recreational pursuits by the younger generation and as this land also comes within the jurisdiction of BUC, a site could be offered there without causing so much discord in the community.

Even if the planning application is approved, the skatepark organisers face a major obstacle. The project has been costed at £200,000 which they hope to raise through grants and donations although such a sum may well become the stumbling block that could save this historic green space from what has been described as an incongruous and unwanted development.