Bid to stop repeat of skateboard park blunder

Jun 26 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

A WORKING group has been formed by a Northumberland council to review the procedures that led to a skateboard park being built on the wrong site.

Earlier this year The Journal revealed how the park had been built on the wrong allotment site in Corbridge.

At a meeting of Corbridge Parish Council last night councillors resolved to form the working group to investigate issues raised by the mistake and how to stop it being repeated.

Chairman of the council Bill Grigg told the meeting that the issue was going to be dealt with internally by the council.

He said: “I would like to think that the working group is going to look at every procedure that should be in place.”

Coun Grigg added that he had been shocked at the lack of documentation that had been kept by the parish council during the planning of the park.

Earlier this month an independent report carried out by Tynedale Council criticised the parish council and the engineering firm Crawford Higgins which was employed on the park.

The report found that both parties had failed to follow best practice in planning the park and that a lack of clarity had led to the mistake.

Chief executive of Tynedale Council Richard Robson attended last night’s meeting.

He was asked by worried members of the public whether the money for the skatepark – at least £30,000 – had been “squandered” and whether there had been an attempt to cover up the mistake.

Mr Robson replied: “Cover up and squandered is very emotive language that I feel is inappropriate. Our understanding was that the fact that the park had been put in the wrong place was brought to attention of the council by the allotment holders.”

Talking about the lack of documentation kept during the planning process, he went on: “What I cannot comment on is the views of other people about what conversations took place.”

He added that there was no one person that could be made a scapegoat and that a number of factors had contributed to the mistake.