A councillor has spoken of the pressures on skateboard and BMX facilities in a South Hams town, where a need for parking and health and safety considerations are threatening their very existence.

At the last meeting of Ivybridge Town Council the possibility was raised of removing the skatepark from the town’s Leonard’s Road car park, and building new facilities at Filham Park.

Councillors agreed extensive dialogue was needed with young people, the business community and all other interested parties before such a move, which would free up a number of parking spaces for shoppers.

Now town councillor Sara Hladkij has gone into more detail on the whole issue of skate and BMX facilities in Ivybridge.

The town council owns a substantial plot of land next to the allotments on the lane in to Filham Park, which for five or six years has been in use as trails and dirt jumps for BMXers. Unfortunately, the area has suffered from a cycle of bursts of activity to build up the jumps, followed by periods of neglect during which the jumps deteriorate.

Last summer the jumps were transformed by the hard work of some members of the long-standing Rampless Riders group, but they have begun to deteriorate again. Cllr Hladkij said the town council believes the jumps become unsafe without sufficient maintenance, and it is now looking at having to fence the area off for health and safety reasons.

Cllr Hladkij said some riders were involved in trying to put together a business plan to create a BMX centre at Filham, including a concrete ’bowl’ that may be a suitable replacement for the Leonard’s Road park. A group of riders and town councillors including Cllr Hladkij visited Decoy in Newton Abbot to see how such a set up could work.

She continued: "Decoy was amazing, absolutely incredible, with a BMX track and concrete bowl, a secure fence and a proper management committee to look after it.

"We don’t want to be the big bad council. What we really need are more volunteers to look after the area, more people coming on board.

"People might not want it to be perceived as a ’council thing’, but they do need to work with the council."

Cllr Hladkij continued: "I’m a street pastor and we go out every Friday night, and I know people like the skatepark being where it is. I feel the kids are safer in the centre, and I think the parents probably prefer it. I also think if the skatepark facility was down where the BMX park is, I’m not sure the people who currently use it would go down there."

The councillor said she had seen skatepark users getting younger and younger, with many now probably Year 8 and 9 age - making them more vulnerable than older teenagers. But she said there may be more pressure on the car park after a promised renovation of the leisure centre and new pool.

She added: "I can see both sides - the traders need to bring people in or the town will die, and we want traders to feel they’re an important part of the town. They need our support, and we need a lot of dialogue to work out the best way forward.

"From a town council point of view we’re just trying to keep everyone happy, which will be very tough."