QUESTIONS have been raised over "wasteful" works on a Herefordshire skatepark.
Ledbury's skatepark has recently undergone major repairs and ramps have been replaced and rearranged to allow those with skateboards, bikes, and scooters to use it, with works commissioned by the town council.
At a meeting of the council, former councillor and owner of Wilce's Cider, Harrison Wilce, said he had been given a tour of the newly revamped skatepark and that the work has been done to a high standard.
But, he said, he wondered if the money was well spent.
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"Any independent advice received was devoid of reasoning and a very large amount of public funding has been thrown away resulting in a heavily reduced and over simplified skatepark," said Mr Wilce.
"Sadly, all the allocated funding has now been spent."
He believes youths, who use the skatepark, will have to deal with a poor standard skatepark for the next few years and interest will subside.
He questions whether there is evidence to prove three large sections of the skatepark which have been scrapped, were in any further level of disrepair.
"These ramps were incredibly expensive and are a huge loss to the skatepark," said Mr Wilce.
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"The only claims of their condition were made by the people who supplied their replacements.
"Sadly, this displays a lack of due diligence which is just unacceptable when spending public money."
He claims two of the removed ramps were 10 or more years newer than most of the ramps on the park.
"The scrapping of these ramps is totally reasonless and wasteful," he said.
He wondered whether the skatepark should have a Facebook page, like Hereford and Monmouth.
After the site visit, Mr Wilce said he spoke with some of the current regular skatepark users.
They all claimed to have not heard anything about changes being made to their skatepark, some even expressed upset that their favourite ramps had been removed and the park was no longer any fun to them, he said.
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