SKATERS and BMX bikers in Loughton are frustrated that they still have no designated park, despite years of negotiations.

A site for a skatepark has been chosen near the allotments at Willingale Road after a public consultation, but the town council has now passed the task of designing and finding funding for one on to the Loughton Youth Project, which is struggling to come up with the funding it needs.

The project's leader, Nick Robinson, said that about £40,000, which the council can provide, would be needed to prepare the site for the ramps and then at least another £40,000 would be needed for equipment.

“The town council has thrown the ball back into the young people's court to come up with a proposal, which is fair enough, but they need more support,” he said.

“They're trying to come up with designs, but they're not professionals, so we could do with more support from the community.”

He added that the funding the group had been applying for was in short supply and that Essex County Council, which is responsible for leisure facilities, had already had to cut funding for a skatepark in Waltham Abbey, so was unlikely to help.

BMX rider Aaron Griffiths, 19, of Colbrook Lane, who has given up stunt riding because there is nowhere in the town to practice, said: “The town council has some money, but they want us to get the rest of it and I don't see how a bunch of people who are mostly 12 to 16 and don't have jobs can get that kind of money together.

“I think the town council should push a bit more themselves, because we're just kids. Our parents pay taxes and the town council are even thinking about turning the street lights off.

“They don't seem like they have got their priorities right.”

He said that the field in Close Lane where he and his friends used to practice had recently been blocked off and that other BMX riders had been beaten up at the skatepark in Leytonstone, so they did not go there any more.

“Kids need something like a skatepark, especially at this time of year,” he added.

Loughton Town Council's clerk, Enid Walsh, said that she was on hand to give support and help the group when they needed it and had been to meetings and on visits to other skateparks with them.

“Skateboard parks are much more successful if the user groups are involved in their design,” she added. “There are certain grants from charitable organisations that need to be made by a community group, not a local authority.”