Skatepark closure angers ex-councillor

DM15221773a Small Dole skatepark has been closed by Upper Beeding Parish Council due to its deteriorating condition

THE decision to close a community skatepark in Small Dole has been criticised by a former parish councillor who helped to deliver it in the first place.

Upper Beeding Parish Council closed the skatepark after inspectors ruled it need up to £50,000 spent on it to make it safe.

However, Joyce Shaw, who spent 20 years on the parish council including five as chairman, has accused the council of not doing enough to preserve it.

She said: “It’s the only thing we have given to the teenagers in the village in the last ten years.

“It might go back to what it was before we had the skatepark, where the teenagers were skating and scooting across the village annoying everybody.

“I’m just annoyed it’s been allowed to get to the state it’s got into. If it had been checked regularly it could have been dealt with quicker. If you get a hole in a jumper you repair it straight away or it gets bigger and bigger. It’s the same principle.”

The skatepark was built eight years ago after young people in the parish approached the council asking for one.