SKATEBOARDING youngsters in Frodsham gathered on national Go Skateboarding Day this week to highlight their campaign for a dedicated sports venue in the town.

Frodsham Youth Association is championing the campaign and has identified the site of the old tennis courts behind Frodsham Leisure Centre as a good location for a proposed new £150,000 skate and BMX park.

The existing skate park at Saltworks Farm in Ship Street was opened four years ago by the former Vale Royal Borough Council, but campaigners claim it was designed mainly for teenagers and is too far away and isolated for younger children who like to cycle, in-line skate and skateboard.

Town councillor Darren Kelly is a leading member of a special project committee set up by Frodsham Youth Association who organised the special gathering at Saltworks Farm on Tuesday.

“This site isn’t very good for younger kids who want to learn to skate or ride a bike without fear of getting knocked down by a car or getting in the way of pedestrians,” said 36-year-old Cllr Kelly, a skateboarder himself for 20 years, who argued children like his nine and seven-year-old sons were “crying out for a more central and accessible facility”.

Groundwork Cheshire is now working with Frodsham Youth Association to source funding, and Cllr Kelly hopes Cheshire West and Chester Council will make its leisure centre site available to help deliver the proposed scheme.

“Young people are saying this is what they want,” he said.

Town and CWaC Councillor for Frodsham, Lynn Riley, said: “I think there’s huge merit in it going there right in the heart of the community, and facilities in Frodsham for children and young people are something the town council’s Play Areas Task Group is taking a long, hard look at. But this process has to involve the whole community and, of course, planning policy.”

Frodsham Youth Association treasurer, Rod Hyde, said: “It’s very important we get some enthusiasm and drive behind this project. It would be a good focal point for youngsters and a positive thing for them in terms of looking after each other and developing skills.

“It’s a big project and will take a while, but we need to make sure people recognise the need for it.”

June Withenshaw