It appears from last week’s Gazette that the skatepark planning application is now going to be submitted sometime in June, after years of struggling to cope with the problems of the Monkton Park site.

I have just returned from Queensland, Australia where any skateparks being built are sited well away from residential areas and in rural or industrial areas, or designed as indoor skateparks. This is (sensibly) so as not to negatively affect other people.

The proposed Chippenham skatepark, to be sited in a park, near a children’s playground and with residential houses within earshot, is a serious misjudgement and is a prime example of how Wiltshire Council needs to catch up with the times. This brings me to the question of cost.

Surely, the council should inform the people of Chippenham and surrounding areas, what the cost of this skatepark will be.

This should include (a) the preparation and advice obtained during the last two years, (b) the construction of the skatepark, and (c) the annual maintenance needed.

In fact, the public should be made aware of this cost prior to submission of any planning application and this should be no exception.

As well as how much, the public should also know where this money is coming from. Is it from the council’s own budget or cash from developers wishing to build future housing, or from some other source?

Whichever it is, questions need to be asked as to whether some of this money would be better spent on the community or youth services in general, and not on a small minority.

In any case, Monkton Park is simply the wrong place. There are so many problems with this site. It is obvious that a skatepark sited elsewhere would cost far less.

The consultation we had on this was totally inadequate, and although views were put forward, these were quickly dismissed as irrelevant.

Let the public, who will have to pay for it one way or another, decide if this skatepark in Monkton Park should proceed when they know all the facts and cost of the project. We need this information before the planning application is submitted, not after the event.

So come on Wiltshire Council, let’s have some transparency and accountability. Why keep this information secret? Let the public know how much and who is paying before it is all too late.

RICHARD TAYLOR, Monkton Park, Chippenham