A FORMER BMX world champion has called for permanent extreme sports facilities for Guernsey’s talented youngsters. James Harrison, 26, spoke out as the Sure Skate Park was dismantled and taken from its temporary summer home at the Grammar School on Wednesday.

An application for permanent facilities at Beau Sejour is currently under consideration and it had been thought that an indoor location had been found in the meantime, but this fell through at the last moment.

Mr Harrison said the decision had been extremely disappointing and the ramps would more than likely end up lying unused in a field somewhere.

‘An indoor place would have been ideal because you can’t ride or skate a lot outside during the winter, especially as it gets dark so early and people are working during the day,’ he said.

‘Guernsey is actually quite well known in England and has a reputation for having a good scene.

‘There is one kid called Phil Guille who is probably the most talented BMX rider the island has ever seen. He is definitely going places. But if nothing happens here, he will either have to move away or miss out on the opportunity to achieve great things.

‘Beau Sejour is slow-moving because it is quite a big project, so in the meantime we have to find somewhere. But unfortunately there is not a lot of spare land or space in Guernsey.’

Mr Harrison was crowned BMX Under-15 World Champion in 1997.

He is now studying video production at Portsmouth University and is a committee member of the Guernsey Extreme Sports Association.

He said a lack of proper facilities had been a problem for as long as he could remember.

‘It’s been this way since I started riding. I got into it when the ramps went up at North Beach for the World Snakeboarding Championships. Everyone thought that was it, we were sorted. But it lasted only a couple of years and a lot of people gave up on extreme sports when it ended,’ he said.

‘There were some ramps set up between B&Q and the Co-op, but they were there for only three years at the most. Eventually they went because of a lack of funds and everyone lost motivation.

‘After that we had only one ramp in the island, which got taken down in 1998 and then there was nothing.

‘Mike O’Hara has worked extremely hard on this for many years and the States seem to have taken notice, but have done nothing about it. It is very frustrating for everyone involved.’