Some Highburton residents fear they may be a target for anti-social behaviour following an incident in a nearby village.
Firefighters and police were called out to Cross Lane, Skelmanthorpe, in the early hours of Sunday when youths lit fires and damaged the skate park.
Now Stuart Brook, one of the Friends of Kirkburton Recreation Ground fears the incident, which he says damaged the structure and scorched the concrete ramps, could be repeated in Highburton if a proposed scooter and skate park is built on the ground.
The plans were unveiled after the death of Kirkburton schoolboy Isaac Nash, in a tragic drowning accident in Anglesey, North Wales, just over a year ago. Friends and family set up The Isaac Nash Trust, (TINT), to raise £100,000 to create a scooter park on part of the recreation ground and having raised the money are waiting to put in a planning application.
Mr Brook said: “This is an example of what can happen when skate parks are built in the wrong place. Residents living nearby have to put up with anti-social activities, not necessarily associated with people who use the skate park, but the mindless individuals who are hell bent on causing misery.
“The problems recently reported about Greenhead Park Skate Park and now this, which is very close to Highburton, leave us all worried that Kirklees Council and the proposers of the Highburton Skate Park care not one jot about the residents who will have to put up with this.
“While very sympathetic to the tragic circumstances surrounding Isaac’s death, many local residents feel that a skate park will cause noise, be a focus for anti-social behaviour, graffiti, drinking, drug taking, litter and potential violence.”
But Howard Lewis, Isaac’s grandfather and a founding member of TINT, said: “We think it’s the right place. It’s out in the open and a well-trafficked area so we think it’s the right place. And, anyway, Skelmanthorpe has a completely different demographic to Highburton.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Police were called to a skate park on Cross Street at 1.21am on Sunday to a report youths had started a fire there.
“Officers and firefighters attended the incident in which a bonfire had been set on the skating surface. Firefighters put out the blaze which caused some damage to the skating surface and police searched the local area for suspects.
“Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information which could help identify the persons responsible is asked to contact the Kirklees Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101, referencing crime 13150359927.”
