Rickety skate park risk to youngsters

Members agreed to spend up to 5,000 to make the current ramp in The Salts recreation ground safe for the next 18 months while supporting Lewes District Council's lottery bid to get all the equipment replaced.

The skate ramp, which opened in August 2003, was condemned by district council safety officers. Metal sheets on the ramp have become loose and rusty, and the concrete edges are broken.

Cllr Tracy Willis told the meeting on Thursday last week: 'Being that close to the sea it has caused a lot of problems and that should have been something that was looked at when it was first mooted.

Unfortunately, because of the amount of money that has been spent on it we have learnt a very harsh lesson. We will not be going back to the same company again.'

Members felt the manufacturers should have given some sort of guarantee or offered a gesture of goodwill when the park started to deteriorate. They will seek a guarantee from any future manufacturer.

The skate park cost more than 30,000 to build, much of it funded by the town's young people.

The facilities are extremely well used and this, given the stress on the equipment and the deterioration of the ramps in the salt atmosphere, has contributed to the equipment being deemed unsafe.

It is understood a new scheme costing 85,000 is being considered.

A bid is being prepared and will be submitted to the Big Lottery Fund (Children's Play) Scheme.

The committee would like members of the public to be involved in any decision about repositioning the skate park.