IT was great to see the Oxford Wheels Project skateboarders are still in a positive frame of mind – and are still keeping young people fully engaged, such as at their recent festival in Meadow Lane.

It is almost a year since planning permission was granted for a new skatepark at Cowley Marsh, only for the skaters to have the lease turned down.

Why give one without the other you might well ask? Explanations are well overdue.

Anyone who has the tiniest clue about child poverty in this city would know that we have areas of deprivation which match those in bigger inner city areas of Britain.

So forget the dreaming spires illusion.

You would have thought that this skatepark would be an ideal way to keep our young people fit, healthy and out of trouble. Swings and slides are not exactly cutting edge to anyone over the age of 10.

I really do not understand why these youngsters are not getting the support they deserve, so can I ask any city or county councillor, MP, businessman, entrepreneur, celebrity, parent, or anyone who has any interest in supporting young people, to help get to the bottom of why providing a permanent skatepark is causing such hand-wringing in certain quarters?

Let’s just get on with it. Don’t give up Oxford Wheels Project. How can we help? SUE GONZALEZ, Outram Road, Florence Park, Oxford