In our local town, we have recently had a gathering with a council woman about the building of a skatepark. We, as skaters, found there were pros and cons to this meeting.

The council woman explained to us that there is a possibility that, despite all our hardwork to prove we need this skatepark, we may not be able to have it. This was devastating. There are seven areas that want a skatepark, but only five will have the privilege.

She also explained to us that the only possible location for our skatepark is behind the Michael Sobell Sports Centre. We don't like this idea because we know someone will complain about us being there or we will be abused by 'trendies' who go to the centre.

She also explained that though we are active with the magazine, people in the other areas are also active. We think although this may be true, we believe we have truly tried to have this skatepark more than anyone else. Aberdare has been campaigning for a skatepark for years.

We believe Aberdare needs and deserves this skatepark, so please support us.

Liza Bergstrom

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We have been campaigning for a skatepark in my local area of Aberdare for as long as I remember. We have been working on this magazine since last year. We had a representative of the local authority visit us. She said there is enough money to build five skateparks but there are seven places who need one. If we have one, we will not have a choice of location. The location will be at the local sports centre. If we have a skatepark it will include metal fittings. We skaters would not chose metal because it is dangerous. If the metal breaks it would have jagged edges and could slit our skin.

Jake Bajai

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Basically, it boils down to this - seven areas want a skatepark but only five areas can have one. The council have to decide which areas get a park by carrying out a study into things like how many skaters there are, what materials they want, and who has the greatest need.

The skaters of Aberdare have been campaigning for a skatepark for years. They did build us one in Penywain but we were not consulted on this and the park was a failure. It has been vandalised and misused. The sad thing is we've gone about getting a park the right way, through campaigning and setting up a magazine to raise awareness of skating, but other places may get a park because there are so many young people in their area getting into trouble with the police. Giving them a park would be an attempt to reduce trouble. If this happens and they get a park but we do not, it would be very unfair as the badly behaved would be rewarded and we would suffer.

Richard Woodward

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I think it is a really good idea to have a local skatepark in Aberdare, not just for me but for others as well.

Having a local park gives us a place to go because wherever we skate we always receive complaints from people. It also gives people who may not be able to afford to travel a chance to skate as well.

The people of Aberdare have petitioned for years and still don't have a skatepark. Penywain didn't even want one but got one. To this day, it is still not used.

Richard McCann

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I think we should have a skatepark. We need one. We need one because all skaters can do is just hang around town. Aberdare is a small place. There's nowhere for us skaters to go. We have nowhere to 'grind' except for the steps in town. When we use them we risk causing damage.

I enjoy skating. I'm a girl skater and we don't have many girl skaters. I'm not very good - that's why we need a skatepark - some people need to practice! I don't skate much because there's nowhere to go but if there was a skatepark I would skate more.

Jade Marshall