WESTBURY Town Council has joined with Sovereign Housing to cover the end wall of Penleigh Park skate ramp with a graffiti mural, painted by residents of the area.
It was announced at the highways, planning and development meeting last month that Westbury Town Council support a project to cover the end wall of the skate park with artistic graffiti in order to discourage the recent spate of inappropriate graffiti and to give local youth a sense of pride in their own work.
It was motioned by cllr Ian Cunningham, who said, “The area around our skate park in Penleigh is rather tired and rundown. Westbury Town Council has removed a youth shelter which had attracted trouble to the skate park area.
“Litter (particularly glass) has lessened and the local residents have suggested a number of improvements they would like to see.
“One suggestion is that we stop the unpleasant graffiti that has appeared on the wall at the high end of the skate park by painting it with some artwork in which local young people have some investment. This technique has proved highly successful.
“The plan is to contract professional help to work with the young people during a design workshop, produce a design and then run a paint day.
“We should put aside £400 from the play areas’ earmarked reserve, subject to appropriate support from Sovereign Housing.”
Scott Jacobs-Lange of Sovereign Housing said, “The mural idea arose from the listening activities that local community groups, POPCAN and Team 10 have been carrying out across the Penleigh and Oldfield Park area. We’re now supporting some further engagement of young people who use the skate park to develop a mural design which we hope can be applied next spring.”
Tina Devereux, a local resident and member of POPCAN said, “Penleigh Park has emerged as a local community priority and we’re working on a number of projects to ensure the park has a positive impact for everyone in the area.”
