6:00am Wednesday 20th August 2008
By Fran Bardsley
Skateboard enthusiasts claim they are "hanging on by the skin of their teeth" after plans for a new skatepark were dashed.
It looked as if a site for jumps and ramps in Cowley Marsh Park had been approved in May, after a 10-year fight.
But, just as planning and fundraising for the facility began, skateboarders from the Oxford Wheels Project hit a major stumbling block.
Oxford City Council - the same authority which granted planning permission for the skatepark - has contacted Wheels' executive officer Jack Richens with bad news.
The council said it will not be supporting any lease application for the land, which is owned by the authority.
Mr Richens said: "We have been doing this for so long now we are almost accustomed to being let down so we are upset, but not at all surprised."
For the scheme to go ahead, permission is required from both the planning authority and the landowner - both of which, in this case, are the council.
But the decision on the lease will be taken by another committee, with separate councillors.
A meeting has been arranged next week between Mr Richens and council board member for young people Antonia Bance to discuss alternative sites.
But Mr Richens said: "We have spent years looking for somewhere to build this skatepark.
"We have been trying, and trying and trying and have got to the stage where we are hanging on by the skin of our teeth."
Despite being landowner, the council would not have to pay for the skatepark development.
A temporary skatepark in Meadow Lane, East Oxford, is coming to the end of its life after 10 years, with just one usable wooden ramp left.
Ms Bance said: "The decision has been taken because of the concerns of local residents and local ward councillors about noise in particular."
She would not comment on why the council had already granted planning permission and said she had not been a member of the committee which made the decision.
Saj Malik, who represents Cowley Marsh on the council, declined to comment and fellow ward councillor Mohammed Abbasi was yesterday unavailable for comment.
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