Us local skateboarders were very pleased after the first petition was created which granted us the new skatepark, but when we were told that we weren’t getting lights we were angry, most of us work full time jobs and have no time to skate after work due to daylight savings being over, the reasoning we’ve been given for not recieving lights at the skatepark is ridiculous, We were told that we weren’t getting lights because it would promote drug use which is completely not true. The only reason drug use would occur at the skatepark is due to the fact there are no lights which in turn means that no one is there to tell them off, if lights were at the skatepark there would be people there to stop drug use from happening. If the council and police are so worried about drug use at the skatepark with lights then give them a shutoff time like many other skateparks have. Not having lights makes the skatepark a more dangerous place as people are parking their cars in different areas than the car park just trying to get a bit of light into the park after dark so they can skate.

This problem can be solved by the council waking up to themselves and realising that a big tourist attraction is lacking the resources to sustain itself through winter when it gets dark early leaving the skatepark useless after 6pm. Drug use is more likely to happen at the skatepark if it is dark and no one can see what is happening.

I’m just another local skater who works full time and doesn’t have a chance to skate due to the council’s poor decision to not include lights at the upgraded skatepark.