IN response to Councillor Fallon’s recent letter, she appears to be rather confused on a few points. I am not anti-skatepark. In fact, I think that those responsible for the shambolic waste of time and money that has deprived the skateboarders of this amenity should be publicly held to account. Alas, this will never happen. Instead, with a dogged, unparalleled resistance to weighty local opinion and expensive technical issues, they seem determined to pour huge amounts of concrete into a historic old parkland.

Unfortunately, Councillor Fallon, along with many other people, seems to confuse the acronym NIMBY with the idea that some people actually do care about the environment. She fudges several issues here. Her choice of words on the siting of the facility are poorly chosen and she skirts the issue of the many objectors who do not live nearby and are therefore not NIMBYs. People come from far and wide to enjoy the park.

Given the serious considerations, including physical flood risk compensation and the associated cost, the installation is disproportionate to the demand and can be satisfied at less expense elsewhere. Party politics should not leave councillors unresponsive to their constituents – my direct experience – and ‘scared’ to speak out on such issues. I understand that many councillors do a good job but vanity projects are divisive and wasteful. Although laudable, I cannot see how Councillor Fallon’s point on Purple Flag status is particularly relevant here. I do not recollect the proposed skatepark being mooted as a 24-hour facility.

So, please, give the skateboarders a skatepark at a sensible cost to the taxpayer with no egos involved and with minimal detriment to the local environment. Perhaps the idea of ‘unity & loyalty’ may then have a greater meaning for the people who feel disenfranchised by the relentless and endless process of the Chippenham skatepark debacle.

MARC ALLUM, St Mary Street, Chippenham