THE skateboard saga dates back to February 2001, when a £50,000 skatepark was opened in Chippenham's Monkton Park.

It replaced an existing skateboard ramp that was closed to make way for the new North Wiltshire Council offices and the new venue attracted skaters from as far away as Bristol and Bath.

But almost immediately after it opened, residents from St Mary Street and Monkton Park began to complain about the noise it generated.

Investigations followed and noise reduction measures were undertaken. During the summer holidays of 2001, an extra £15,000 was spent to provide security fencing and noise investigation.

From July 2001, the opening hours were also restricted.

But the measures did not cut the noise and on September 6, 2001, councillors ruled that the park should close.

After frantic protests by skaters and their supporters, the skatepark then received a brief reprieve when the council voted to keep the skatepark open until a suitable new site could be found.

But the Friends of Monkton Park called for an inquiry into the council's handling of the affair.

The residents appealed to the Local Government Ombudsman, who ruled that the skatepark was in breach of noise regulations, and said the council was guilty of maladministration for keeping it open.

Calling the council's actions perverse and unreasonable, the ombudsman ordered it to pay compensation of around £1,000 to each of the residents who had been affected.

And despite further protests by skaters, the skatepark was closed for good, on Monday June 24, 2002.

Following the closure, police raised concerns about the number of youngsters skating on the streets of the town.

Meanwhile, the council's officers continued the search for another suitable site. Between October 2002 and March 2003, they inspected more than 20 prospective skateparks, including the Bridge Centre and a warehouse at Bumper's Farm.

But all the locations were dismissed as unsuitable.

In October, the issue attracted further criticism after a mugging in Bristol ended in murder.

A group of nine teenagers from Hardenhuish and Sheldon Schools in Chippenham were in the city skateboarding and shopping, when they were mugged twice by two gangs of older youths.

The first robbery resulted in the murder of Liam Attwell, a stranger who intervened to help the teenagers, when one was threatened with a knife.

The parents of one of the boys from Hardenhuish School said the incident might never have happened if the skatepark at Monkton Park had not closed, because the teenagers would not have had to go to Bristol to skate.

In January, 2003, skaters and their parents, frustrated by the council's failure to find another site, re-activated their SkateInSafety action group.

Lead by parents Mike Connolly and Geoff Faulkner, the group set about its own campaigning strategy. Speaking at the time, Mr Connolly said: "It will be an uphill battle but we believe we can do it."

In March this year, their campaign received a major breakthrough, when Chippenham's Borough Lands trustees gave their blessing for land the charity owns at Westmead, to be used for a skatepark.