DESIGNS for the new Lyme Regis skatepark are set to be revealed for the first time after 30 years of waiting.

Plans to build a facility in Charmouth Road car park are well advanced but hinge on getting the support of the public.

A public consultation event on Saturday, May 30, will give residents the chance to have their say and offer a first look at the preliminary sketches for the site.

Lucy Campbell, chairman of the town council’s Skateboard Facility Working Group, said: “I must stress these are not finalised designs at all – these are just preliminary sketches.”

The meeting will be hosted by Dorset Community Action, which has just helped to open a skatepark in Dorchester after 12 years of planning.

Community development worker Kris Hallett said: “We want to open up debate on what people would like to see, whether they are a user, or local resident who has concerns about ending up with what they might perceive as an eyesore or noise nuisance on their doorstep.”

Nearby residents Brian and Anne Thornber, who run Quambi Bed and Breakfast, fear the worst.

Mrs Thornber said: “Nobody up here wants a skateboard park. There is a lady across the road who hears all the noise down her chimney and she feels she will have to move if they go ahead with it, and we might do the same if it gets that bad.”

One unnamed Charmouth Road resident said her biggest concern is the instability of the land.

She said: “With this side of town waiting to be stabilised, it seems a waste of money.”

Coun Lucy Campbell said the Charmouth Road site is currently the strongest option.

She added: “We are open to other areas if people do suggest areas we haven’t looked at.”

For young skater Aneesa Sagman, 15, the skatepark can’t come soon enough, but said she and her friends also understand the neighbours’ concerns.

She said: “I think the site would be great, as long as it is at the back seeing as it’s in a residential area.

“I think a lot of people think young people nowadays are selfish, whereas really they just want to have somewhere they can just hang out and not be accused of anything.”

The Woodroffe School pupil currently travels to Bridport to practice on her BMX.

She said: “It is illegal to take my bike on the bus so my mum has to take me everywhere. It would be a lot easier to stay in my local town.”

l If you are unable to attend the consultation event but would like your views to be contributed, contact Kris Hallett on 01305 216409, email kris.hallett@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk, or write to her at Community House, The Barracks, Bridport Road, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1YG.

The event is in Lyme Regis Guildhall from 11am-3pm.