Skate park on Mumbles seafront backed

A contentious new skate park for the Swansea seafront has been narrowly backed by county councillors.

Mumbles Community Council wants to replace an ageing skate park, but some residents fear overdevelopment.

Swansea planning officers recommended approval, saying the Llwynderw site was not far from a bus stop and car park.

Community council chair Carrie Townsend Jones said they were "delighted" to get approval "and now we can really start moving forward and getting on with it."

Objectors claimed the site lacked parking and raised concerns about its sensitive location by the promenade, and the lack of security.

Pam Erasmus, a fellow community councillor, told Swansea's planning committee the skate park would be "a piece of architectural design for all members of the community".

The planning authority received two petitions and 868 expressions of support, and also two objection petitions and 65 expressions of opposition.

One petition of support included hundreds of people who said they were from India, with others from Chile, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Local schools have also given strong backing to the project, which would also be suitable for scooters and BMX bikes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Linda Tyler-Lloyd, whose Mayals ward includes the site, said some people were worried that the much-loved foreshore could be "nibbled away bit by bit" by potential new developments.

Other members also voiced concern about the location, with one suggesting it would be better in West Cross, where the existing mini-half pipe skate park can be found.

The new bowl-shaped skate park, estimated to cost £335,000, will be screened from Mumbles Road by a 1.2m fence and a hawthorn hedge.

Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart said he believed it would be a "wonderful addition" to the seafront.

The skate park was approved by a majority of one.

Ms Townsend Jones said she hoped work on the project would get under way in September.