Don't put Lincoln's new skate park at Hobblers Hole say residents

Residents say a new site which has been proposed for a £200,000 skate park is in the wrong place.

Hobblers Hole, next to Whitton's Park on Long Leys Road, has been identified for the scheme after the West Common was ruled out.

That is because the Lincoln City Council Act 1985 says the commons must stay free from encroachment – which could include skate park foundations.

But George Woolfenden, who serves on the commons advisory panel, maintains the best site is near the Grandstand.

"A skate park should be built in Lincoln but the new site which has been proposed is an important area for wildlife," said Mr Woolfenden, of Carholme Road.

"There's no parking at the new site they're looking at and no toilets that will be open.

"Who will police it? There won't be any urban rangers.

"The Act dates from 1985 when there was still point-to-point horse racing.

"To bring horse racing back you would have to lose the common and that's never going to happen."

Retired civil servant John Shipton, 63, who lives off Long Leys Road, is also concerned about the potential loss of the urban ranger service from June due to budget cuts.

"The skate park is a good scheme but it's in the wrong place," he said.

"No one's going to police it in the future and a skate park application here in 1980 failed due to noise and because access was not good enough.

"It's in the wrong place."

But James Adams, 21, who works at Grindhaus boarding shop in St Martin's Lane, Lincoln, said the main issue is to create the best possible facility.

"The possibility of a new location means that the project will be delayed and we were hoping to have it done a bit sooner," he said.

"The original plans were really good.

"It's just a question of whether these plans can be transported to this new site.

"Everybody I have spoken to is really positive about it – they want it sorted as quickly as possible.

"A skate park is badly needed.

"Businesses and the police get a bit fed up with boarders sometimes but they don't have a decent place to go."

The proposed site is more than 100 metres away from any housing and the councils says the area will have "noise mitigation" and be carefully landscaped.

Those being consulted are Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, which manages the neighbouring Newts Hollow site, residents, the skate park user group and footpaths officers.

Emma Brownless, solicitor at the City of Lincoln Council said: "The Lincoln City Council Act is there to protect the commons and open spaces for the people of Lincoln.

"Some of the areas at West Common, including the Grandstand, have an extra level of protection under the Act.

"The plans for the skatepark as they stood could have contravened this and made the development illegal.

"It was therefore decided to look at alternative locations."

To have your say, visit the Lincoln Skate Park Project Facebook group or call the council's recreation team on 01522 873502 or e-mail recreation@lincoln.gov.uk