SKATEBOARDERS and BMX riders who want a permanent skate park in Oxford enjoyed a break from campaigning at a mini-contest and festival.

Oxford Wheels Project, which runs the temporary ramps at Meadow Lane, in East Oxford, has been fighting for more than 10 years to get a permanent skate park built in Cowley Marsh.

Planning permission was granted for the scheme in May last year.

Butjust three months later, Wheels’ executive officer Jack Richens was told the group was unlikely to be given a lease for the site, which is owned by Oxford City Council, leaving the future of the scheme in the balance.

But on Saturday, wrangling over leases was the last thing on skaters’ minds as more than 100 gathered at the Meadow Lane ramps for a skate ‘jam’, competition and barbecue, with displays on the remaining ramp and live graffiti demonstrations.

Mr Richens said: “We have put in a notice of intent to apply for the lease but we’re pretty confident that the city council’s Cowley area committee, which will make the decision, will turn it down.

“The reason we’re applying is to get a straight answer as to why they oppose the park, when there’s so much support for it, because we feel we have never really been given a reason.

“The plan was for this to be the first fun event of the summer, with lots of impressive skating and jumping.

“At the moment we’re in limbo as to the future, so we’re turning our efforts to having some fun.”

Since Mr Richens was told the lease was unlikely to get the go-ahead, he has been working with council officers and Antonia Bance, the council’s executive member for social inclusion and young people, to identify an alternative site.

He said: “We’re still working on building a permanent skate park in Oxford and we’re hoping that maybe Cowley Marsh could still go ahead, but realistically I think it’s unlikely.

“We have had a lot of discussions about the need for it but so far we haven’t come up with much.

“We’re currently poking around investigating some possible alternative sites.”

Meadow Lane cannot be converted into a permanent site as it is on part of the city’s flood plain, and most of the ramps were removed last year because they were worn out.

One remains in place, but Mr Richens said it only had a year’s skating left in it.

It would cost £15,000 to £20,000 to replace, money which he said Wheels was unwilling to spend on a facility which was meant to be temporary.

The area committee is due to consider the lease application at its meeting on May 6, at John Bunyan Baptist Church, in Crowell Road, at 6.30pm.