FOLLOWING concerns from young people in Okehampton regarding the safety of the town’s skate park, the town council has agreed to fund vital repairs.

At a recent Okehampton Town Council meeting it was agreed that £500 would be put toward making improvements to the skate park, specifically that the money would be used to fund a steel cap to the spine (a type of ramp) at the skate park.

Members of the youth centre Room 13 delivered a presentation to the town council, which highlighted their main concerns with the skate park, including safety and the lack of adequate facilities.

The presentation suggested improvements which members of the youth centre hoped could be made to the park.

During the presentation the young people expressed concern around the safety of the spine due to it being uneven and the coping piping being dangerous in its current state.

They also said that the lighting of the skate park was an urgent issue as it was unsafe to use the park during the evenings as there was no working light.

Fiona Bush, area youth worker of Room 13, said: ‘Some of our youth club members have mentioned that they wish for improvements to be made to the skate park.

‘They have raised valid points regarding practicality and safety and have been working hard to come up with new ideas of what they can do to help make the changes possible.’ 

Mother-of-two Nicola Dunford, who lives around 200 metres from the skate park, also expressed concerns: ‘We live very close to the park and there are clearly quite a few problems. My son said that the top of the ramp is very loose. There are also a lot of problems with anti-social behaviour.

‘I believe that some of the older children may have removed parts of the ramp in order to do certain tricks. It’s important that these ramps are fixed and safe for our kids to use.’

The town council’s parks committee has been working towards making improvements to the skate park. A new working light is due to been installed and the council has now agreed to fund the repairs to the spine by getting a steel cap fitted.

Cllr Christine Marsh, chairperson of the parks committee, said: ‘The council awarded £500 to the group towards the ramp. This will be from this year’s budget and the young people will be applying again in the next financial year for another £500 towards future work. I am seeing a contractor towards the end of the month who is going to give me a price for the work. In essence the council is committed to keeping the skate park safe and maintained for the youngsters.’

Okehampton town clerk Paul Snell said that as soon as an electrical contractor was sourced, the lamp light in the park would be fixed. He also said that the skate park had undergone an annual check and was deemed to be safe by professionals.