Member of the Skate Park Working Group, Paula Dell-McCumstie, said that now that the development application had been approved, the group would be able to apply for funding for the $250,000 project.

The path to getting the skate park under way though has been a slow one and Mrs Dell-McCumstie acknowledged the assistance of Blayney Shire Council in getting the project started.

“We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time but getting through the paperwork and understanding the forms for this kind of project has been difficult,” she said. “But this time council has been helping us out and have filled out the forms that us mere mortals aren’t really able to do.”

The design for the skate park was created by Oasis Skate Park Design following workshops held in April.

Unlike the current skate park in Millthorpe, Mrs Dell-McCumstie said, the 480 metre square Blayney design is more suited for a broad range of skaters.

“The Blayney park is more similar to the one in Orange,” she said.

Traffic concerns though, and the risk that having extra people crossing the road near what is already a difficult intersection bring, were enough for resident Cheryl Diggle to speak against the proposal during the public forum before the meeting.

“It’s common knowledge that the corner is extremely dangerous and even with the supposedly safe pedestrian crossing, it will not always be used by the park skateboarders,” she said.

Mrs Diggle believes that an area near the netball courts would be better suited as it’s more central to the high and primary schools and away from the major routes of Carcoar and Adelaide streets.