The District Council’s Planning Committee has voted 17 -7 to approve an application by Rayleigh Town council for a hardstanding area in King Georges Field to be used for skateboarding.
It was a tense debate , with residents calling out from the public gallery.(some supporting the application, some against)
There was a petition from 970 people supporting the skateboarding – on the other hand some residents adjoining the playing field objected because of the likely noise.
In the debate:
– Chris Black spoke in favour of the skateboarding and voted for it. He said King Georges was a PLAYING field.
– Ron Oatham had to declare an interest as a Town Councillor and left the meeting.
– The Tory Leader of the Council , Cllr Webster , spoke strongly against the skateboarding – because of the noise- and voted against it
-The most eloquent speaker of the evening was probably another Conservative, Cllr Humphries, who supported the application.
After a very tense debate, the proposal was passed by 17 votes to 7. Of those who voted against, six were Conservative and one was Labour.
The skateboarding area will be 11m by 28.3 m in size and will be in the north west corner of the field, a little to the north of the bowling green.
It was a pity that nobody from the local press was there – after all , this has been an important local issue , and 970 people signed a petition!