YOUTHS in Wycombe should soon have a new skateboard park on The Rye and smaller ones in Wooburn, Stokenchurch and Marlow.

Members of Wycombe District Council's cabinet agreed on Monday, JUne 13, to apply for planning permission and get on with the job.

There are 14,200 teenagers in the district and helping them do the things they enjoy is a council priority.

Cabinet members were keen on the scheme, especially those with long memories of The Rye, such as Peter Cartwright, who said there used to be a paddling pool, a miniature railway, a putting green as well as a running and bike track there.

Clare Martens, the leader of the Labour group on the council, congratulated cabinet member Julia Langley on the scheme, which she said was excellent.

But she said the council should get on with it, and not spend more time getting the views of people who might think they could stop it. The council has set aside £150,000 this year to spend on skateboarding facilities in the district. Of this £90,000 will go towards the park on The Rye.

The Rye park will be built out of concrete to make it vandal-proof and Cllr Lesley Clarke suggested it should be officially decorated with graffiti-style art.