YOUNG people in Okehampton are calling for the town?s skate park to be given a facelift to restore the well-used facility to prime condition. Okehampton town councillors were concerned this week to hear claims the site near Brayhams Terrace was beginning to take on a ?neglected? appearance. Cllr Christine Marsh reported concerns relayed via Devon Youth Services about the condition of the facility, which was only opened two years ago. Cllr Marsh told the parks committee meeting held on Monday that the skate park was ?beginning to look neglected and uncared for?. She said this was the result of no formal maintenance plan for the area having being drawn up. ?We need to formalise arrangements for maintenance. The council needs to sit down with the Devon Youth Service worker who is in contact with the users and try to find a way forward. Cllr Marsh said ensuring the safety of the young people who use the skate park had to be the council?s paramount concern. She said the skate park had been a great success: ?They have had a number of competitions down there which have brought in people from quite a distance away. ?It is obviously here to stay and it is nice to have another facility for the town. We want to make sure it is correctly maintained for future users.? Cllr Marsh said she welcomed the fact the views of the young people were finally being fed back to the council. ?We need to hear the views of the users and give them a bit of ownership,? she said. Mayor of Okehampton Cllr Tony Leech said: ?What we need to do is a condition survey looking at the original design and seeing how it has denigrated to date. We then have some work to do to put together a scheme to put the skate area back up to how it was, but who pays for that is still in the lap of the gods.? Cllr Leech said that in many ways the facility was a victim of its own success ? because it was well used, parts of the facility were now suffering from wear. ?There is no doubt it is well used and it is a very good facility for the town,? he added. Councillors also heard that some young people had adapted pallet boxes and dug up sections of ground to make the riding area more challenging, which they were concerned could be dangerous. Skateboard users were also keen to work together towards the construction of a fence around the skateboard area to prevent stones and dust from bike riders? wheels being thrown up onto their ramp. The council already carries out some upkeep work, including litter-picking and grass-cutting and annual inspections have been undertaken at the site. The skateboard and BMX park was opened in Easter 2003 thanks to a partnership between a number of funders, including the Okehampton United Non Ecclesiastical Trust, Awards for All, West Devon Borough Council, Mid Devon Primary Care Trust, West Devon Community Safety Partnership, the town council, the EX20 Lottery, Okehampton Round Table and OCRA, to provide the project at a cost of around £50,000. Town clerk Don Bent told the meeting he would be holding a meeting with Devon Youth Services and other interested parties to discuss future arrangements for the maintenance of the skate park.
