Freemove, the UK’s leading provider of bespoke and pre-fabricated Parkour facilities, has been commissioned by North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) to extend the largest free to use Parkour training facility in the UK.
The contract, worth £100,000, involved extending the second phase of the West End Park in Coatbridge, Scotland. The extension quadrupled the purpose-built site after its users identified a need for larger facilities.
Working in partnership with NLC, Freemove started working on the site in June and the urban sports specialists completed the high profile project by mid-July, with the opening event taking place on the 18th July.
Freemove Area Sales Manager Diarmuid McNamara, said: “We have carried out extensive consultation with local user groups to ensure we cater for a wide variety of practitioners, ranging in age and skill level. Our in-house design team has also addressed the need to use natural materials which are functional and enhance the existing facility. As a result, the whole site has been resurfaced with a bonded rubber mulch safety surface.”
Play Services Officer Ross Dunn from NLC said: “NLC’s Learning and Leisure Services and Coatbridge Local Area Partnership have worked in partnership with CultureNL Ltd and Coatbridge Parkour towards the delivery of a £100,000 extension and upgrade to an existing Parkour facility in West End Park, Coatbridge. External funding from Waste Recycling and Environment Ltd (WREN) and sportscotland’s Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund has allowed this project to be realised. It will offer the largest free to access facility in the country which will be of regional importance to the Parkour community.
“NLC fully support this development and the benefits it brings to the local area. The opportunity for increased physical exercise, social interaction and diversionary activities for our young people are a positive step for the community and a fitting legacy within North Lanarkshire which is a proud host venue of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.”
The West End Park site opened in June 2011 as Scotland’s first purpose-built Parkour course. It was created after young people in Coatbridge identified a wish for a local Parkour facility and a proposal was submitted to NLC’s Local Development Programme.
Having worked closely with Strathclyde Police, the council invested £35,000 to create the facility which has continued to grow in popularity with local traceurs.
