Town planners to inspect site of skate park (From Warrington Guardian)

Town planners to inspect site of skate park

THE potential site for a hugely controversial new skateboarding facility in Lymm will be visited by councillors.

Members of the borough council's development control committee will tour Ridgeway Grundy Park in the village before considering blueprints to house the ramps there.

The application has been brought by Lymm Parish Council after it won funding to pay for the new facility.

But, while the scheme has delighted many young people in the village, it has sparked anger among many residents who live near the park.

They claim that existing problems of noise and disruption caused by young people gathering in the park will only be exacerbated by the new plans.

The work has been made possible after the parish council won a number of grants. Youngsters in the area lobbied councillors to ask for the equipment as they felt it was too dangerous to use skateboards on the roads.

Clr Sheila Woodyatt said: "We wanted to do something for the young people of Lymm.

"This application is not for a skate park, it is just a small facility.

"I have been a councillor for many years and I would not support anything that I believed was to the detriment of the people I have served for so long.

"The kids that will use this area are good kids and not mindless yobs. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation has been spread and now a lot of people are getting extremely worried and panicking because of the information. The ramps will be soundproof and vandal-proof."

But the scheme has angered residents who claim the noise and distraction of the skateboarders would be unacceptable.

One said: "This park was not designed for this and people who live around it feel let down by the parish council."

The plans will be discussed at the next meeting of the development control committee on September 7.