A UNIQUE sporting venue for young people is in danger of being shut down and smashed to bits.

The Trick Factory in Bridport is popular with skateboarders and BMX bike riders from across Dorset, among them contenders for Britain’s BMX team in the 2012 Olympics.

The indoor park is threatened because it stands in the way of controversial plans for the redevelopment of Bridport’s South West Quadrant, which includes the St Michael’s Trading Estate.

Landowners Haywards are appealing against West Dorset District Council’s refusal earlier this year to grant permission for the transformation of the historic SW Quadrant. The Trick Factory is housed inside a relic of Bridport’s net and cordage industry called the Stover Building, which Haywards want to demolish and replace with housing.

Fire officer called in

Haywards’ architect Ken Morgan, as part of preparations for the appeal inquiry, twice in November inspected the Stover Building. Acting chiefly on concerns about a fire escape he saw blocked externally with some loose timber, he called in Dorset Fire and Rescue Service to assess whether it was safe for the Trick Factory to continue.

The Trick Factory has been built up over the last ten years by expert BMX rider Robert Ridge.

Watch Rob Ridge on YouTube talking about the future of The Trick Factory and the South West Quadrant by clicking on this link.

In an email to Mr Ridge, Mr Morgan stated: “I cannot comment for the landlords but my ‘newly realised concerns’ stem from the fact that I must prepare for the appeal inquiry scheduled for January, part of which directly relates to the refusal of Conservation Area Consent for demolition of the Stover Building. During inspections of the building I recognized the potential fire risk and danger to life and cannot, professionally or personally, ignore that.”

Fire officer visits

Mr Ridge has responded to Haywards’ moves, and fire service recommendations, by taking time off work to make improvements.

He said that when the fire officer arrived: “We duly gave him a little tour, and he was fortunate enough to see a busy, boisterous, functioning evening going on here, a lot of people having a lot of fun. He even took the time to speak to a few people, as well as assessing the situation for his obvious concerns, and he said that whilst there were things that needed doing, the measures that we had here, and the way we were running the facility, from what I could interpret, he was satisfied that he could leave, with certain things in place, he could leave the place, and we’re waiting to hear back to find out recommendations to bring us up to a fully satisfactory level. So whilst not everything is perfect here, we’re still running and we hope to keep running and hope to carry out the necessary remedial work.”

On the same night the fire officer came back, an hour or so later. “And in that time we’d already got hands on deck, as it were, to start tidying the place up, making our fire extinguishers more visible, and start on the list of things that he’d recommended, so, on that revisit, I’d like to think we scored a few points there, and I’m hoping that we can satisfy their obligations. We’re certainly hoping to make every effort to keep ourselves running here, to keep all parties happy.”    

Mr Ridge has also begun amassing his own team of supporters and advisers, including the high-profile human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith, best known in Britain and America for his work with captives at Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Ridge got to know through Mr Stafford-Smith through a plumbing job he once did for him.

Possible weakness in Haywards’ case

The issue has become more intense because of the way the Stover Building’s future has been dealt with in planning applications so far. This has been identified by one objector as a potentially severe weakness in Haywards’ case.

Catherine Searle, of the Bridport Environment Group, has told the Planning Inspectorate that she wishes to speak at the appeal in January about the Stover Building and the Trick Factory. Ms Searle is a battle-hardened veteran of Bridport’s last major planning dispute, the bitter struggle between West Dorset District Council (WDDC) and a range of protestors over the future of Downe Hall back in the 1990s. Haywards’ applications for the redevelopment of the SW Quadrant were initially made with WDDC.

Ms Searle believes that the Stover Building proposals – because they affect a Conservation Area – should be “assessed against the same broad criteria as proposals to demolish a Listed Building, ie that ‘all reasonable efforts have been made to sustain existing uses or find viable new uses, and these efforts have failed’” [she is quoting planning guidance].

Ms Searle says that neither Haywards, nor district council committee reports, have referred to the existing use of the Stover Building as the Trick Factory, nor have they indicated any attempt to find any other viable new uses for it. This despite the fact that the Trick Factory has been going for ten years and attracts boys from across Dorset and East Devon, and sometimes places further beyond, such as Southampton. The Trick Factory is the only indoor skatepark in Dorset, and the nearest alternative to it is in Bristol. There is also an indoor park in Newquay.

Call for support to avert “great loss”

Mr Ridge says that having to shut down the Trick Factory would be “a great shame” and “a great loss”, not just for himself but for many others, including the young people of Bridport.

He asked for people’s support: “Support is great, and I would say to anybody out there, if anybody knows, or anybody feels they can help in any way, they are more than welcome to come down or contact us.

“Any grant assistance is also useful as well. We’ve now got people looking at applying for grants as well, because we only run the place on a shoestring budget, on a very modest budget, and as with so many things the key to a lot of it is money and resources, so that would certainly help us in a lot of ways.”

For more details about the Trick Factory, and more pics and videos, click on this link here