We, the friends of the Brimscombe Port Community Interest Businesses, want Rush Skatepark and other Brimscombe Port businesses to be given a lease extension until January 2022.

Stroud District Council recently successfully applied to Stroud District Council (no that isn't a typo) to demolish all the buildings at Brimscombe Port including Rush Skatepark to prepare the site for possible developers.  This has resulted in the businesses at Brimscombe Port being given notice to quit by 30th June 2021.

This will mean Rush Skatepark and the other businesses will only have been able to fully open for a few weeks since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. We believe it is very unfair to users of the skatepark and on local children, in particular, given that the closure will come just before the school holidays. We also believe that Rush Skatepark can offer a 'slice of normality' to many people in particular our families and children who have had a very disrupted year.

Although all the businesses have been aware that they would be asked to vacate, no allowance has been made for the impact of the pandemic on efforts to find alternative homes for the businesses and to protect jobs.

Since opening, Rush Skatepark has become established as a big player within the international skatepark community, offering a world class facility that has catered to riders of all levels, from grass-roots beginners all the way up to active, competing professional riders from the now Olympic sports of Skateboarding and BMX as well as up and coming action sports, scootering and inline skating which have seen an incredible surge in popularity since Rush opened in 2013. Rush skatepark has hosted national and international competitions including the World Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2019, attracting thousands of people to the Stroud area from all over the world.

Rush Skatepark and The Grace Network, who run the Stroud District Furniture Bank, The Long Table, Stroud District Kids Stuff, Kick Off Stroud and other social businesses which are also facing the end of their lease and are on notice to quite, have been looking at options for a joint site which could benefit both organisations in terms of footfall, funding and overheads.

All these businesses continue to work hard looking for new homes either together or separately.

Please note we understand that at the time of writing (25th May 2021) Stroud District Council do not currently have a developer engaged or ready to carry out the building work at the site. We believe that there is a high likelihood that the site will be empty and development won't go ahead for a number of years once the buildings have been demolished.