£212,065 will go on the concrete at the Town Park skate park. Two council consultations on the Northbrooks and Bush Fair courts close on 13 September.
Harlow Council has appointed the firm that will run the rebuild of the Town Park skate park, and the paperwork puts a figure on the work itself for the first time. £212,065 of the £250,000 set aside goes on the concrete and the new features. The other £37,935 pays the project manager.
The decision was signed by Councillor Danielle Brown, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Community, in a report dated 3 September and published on 4 September. It awards a contract to Potter Raper worth £178,675 if all sites are delivered, covering project management for the skate park, seven multi-use games areas and tennis court sites.
Two of those eight sites have money. Six do not.
Where the money is
The council has identified two budgets, and the report splits each one between professional fees and the work on the ground:
| Site | Total | Project management | Capital works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harlow Skate Park | £250,000 | £37,935 | £212,065 |
| Northbrooks MUGA and tennis courts | £197,605 | £31,440 | £166,164 |
That is £69,375 of the £178,675 contract accounted for. The remaining £109,300 only becomes payable if the other six sites go ahead, and the money for those has not been secured.
The skate park’s £250,000 sits in the 2026/27 Non-Housing Capital Programme and was announced when the council set its budget in March. What is new is the split, the contractor and the fact that the programme now formally covers eight sites rather than one.
What the skate park is getting
The park is in the Town Park, just off the First Avenue cycle track near Burnt Mill school. It is 650 square metres of concrete, opened in 2008, designed by Freestyle Skateparks with input from local skaters, and it has quarter pipes, banks, hips, blocks, rails and a bowl. It is free and open all year.
The report lists what needs doing:
- repairing surface cracks
- grinding down and repairing rough surface
- repairing large cracks to the banks and blocks
- repairs to the coping
- expanding the surface area and adding new features
One detail worth flagging. The report opens by saying the skate park “is now 20 years old”. The council’s own page for the park, and its March announcement, both date it to 2008, which makes it 18.
The 83 people who asked for this
The council ran an online survey on the skate park from 13 March to 13 April 2026. It drew 83 responses. The report says the park is held in high regard, and that the top requests were:
| What people asked for | Share of responses |
|---|---|
| Beginner and young children areas | 41% |
| Expansion to reduce overcrowding | 35% |
| Beginner-friendly ramps and progression features | 31% |
| Street and plaza style features | 29% |
| Seating and spectator areas | 28% |
Those responses produced a stakeholder group, and two on-site meetings have already been held to work up solutions. The stated aim is to “broaden the audience” so beginners and younger riders are better catered for, while keeping enough for experienced users.
Councillor Brown said in March that she had spent time at the park talking to regulars, that they gave her a wish list, and that the council had taken those suggestions on board. The consultation percentages are the first published measure of what that wish list contained.
Six sites with no money
The programme covers eight locations. Only the first two have a budget:
The report says the six unfunded sites need external money. Expressions of interest to Sport England and the Football Foundation were successful, and both bodies have now asked for full site-by-site applications. The council also intends to apply to Pride in Place.
What the courts need is the same everywhere: resurfacing, colouring and activity-specific line marking, replacement fencing, and floodlights and CCTV “where appropriate”. The report says they are “in poor condition and have not received investment for many years”, and that the benchmark is the recently refurbished Church Langley tennis courts.
Two of those consultations are open now, and both close on Sunday 13 September. They opened on 10 August on the council’s Let’s Talk Harlow site:
- Northbrooks multi-use games area. This is the site with a budget. The council says the size and layout could take up to three distinct playing areas, giving football, tennis and one other sport as the example, and that feedback will shape the design.
- Bush Fair multi-use games area. This one is exploratory. The council is investigating whether the Bush Fair MUGA could qualify for the Football Foundation’s PlayZone programme, and says plainly that the consultation “does not mean that a PlayZone has been approved or that funding has been secured”.
Both surveys take about five minutes.
What it means for you
- If you use the skate park: the work is funded and has a project manager, but no start date has been published. Nearest parking is the School Lane or First Avenue car parks; our guide to parking in Harlow has the full list of council car parks.
- If you use Northbrooks courts: this is the only other site with a budget, £166,164 for the work itself, and the council’s design consultation closes on 13 September. That is the point at which a resident can still influence the layout.
- If you use Bush Fair MUGA: its consultation also closes on 13 September, and it feeds a funding bid rather than a funded scheme. No money has been secured for that site.
- If your local court is on the other six: The Dashes, Blackbush Springs, Bush Fair, Nicholls Field, The Stow and Foldcroft all depend on grant bids that have not been decided. There is no timetable.
- Watch for planning applications. The report flags that some of the improvements and additions will need planning permission. Those will show up in our Harlow planning news.
- On the money: the contract was awarded directly from the ProcurePublic project management framework rather than tendered separately. Under the council’s Contract Standing Order 11, contracts over £100,000 are awarded by the relevant portfolio holder, which is why this did not go to Cabinet.
The council notes that Harlow is a Sport England Place Partnership area, designated because physical activity levels here are lower than average. The report argues the programme supports that work.
Sources
- Harlow Council, decision: Project Management Services for Harlow Skate Park, Multi-Use Games Areas and Tennis Courts, decision maker Portfolio Holder for Culture and Community, published 4 September 2026, and the accompanying portfolio holder report dated 3 September 2026, for the contract award to Potter Raper, the £178,675 value, the two budgets and their splits, the eight-site programme, the works schedules, the 83 consultation responses and percentages, the wards affected, the funding routes and the procurement basis.
- Harlow Council, skate park for the 650 square metre size, the 2008 opening, the Freestyle Skateparks design, the features and the location off the First Avenue cycle track.
- Harlow Council, Town Park Skate Park to be transformed in 2026, 11 March 2026, for the £250,000 in the 2026 budget and Councillor Brown’s comments.
- Let’s Talk Harlow, Skate Park upgrade for the survey dates of 13 March to 13 April 2026 and the 83 respondents, and Northbrooks multi-use games area and Bush Fair multi-use games area for the two live consultations, their 10 August opening, their 13 September closing date, the three-playing-area proposal at Northbrooks and the PlayZone caveat at Bush Fair.
More from Harlow Online: things to do in Harlow, Harlow planning news and roadworks and travel.
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