So finally - FINALLY! - the proposed skate park in Charlton Park reached the outline planning meeting. And two days ago a large room in Woolwich Town Hall was standing room only as objectors and pro-skatepark fans crowded in to have their say. I won't go into detail here. You can read more on The Charlton Champion (link below) or search the #CharltonSkatePark hashtag on Twitter for the gory details. Suffice to say, stigmatising skaters as drug-taking gang-members didn't work as a tactic for the objectors and the proposal was eventually passed by a massive 10-1 margin. So. The work of this petition is done. It served its purpose in showing there was widespread support for the skate park. And it drew in supporters to the meeting. So thanks to everyone who signed, hard to know exactly how much impact it had, but it certainly made a difference. Thanks also to the Council Officers who put a strong case together in the face of lots of opposition, both visible and behind the scenes. This doesn't mean that the skate park is as good as built. There is still the chance that restrictive conditions could be imposed (issues like the lighting seem of particular concern to councillors). But getting passed this stage is a major hurdle cleared. Now it is down to the designers and the core skate park stakeholders to thrash out the details and get the thing built. Thanks again for all the support everyone, hope to see you in the next 12-18 months at Charlton Skate Park! Paul and Andy Charlton Champion story: https://charltonchampion.co.uk/2016/09/15/charlton-skate-park-gets-go-ahead-from-greenwich-councillors/