When I first came to Whitby over 20 years ago all the talk was about a skatepark for young people.

What amounts to a generation later it has finally been built but not enough money was available to finish it off.

I have walked past the park many times now and it is always full of young people of all ages playing.

Great to see when all the publicity these days is negative.

The park was realised finally by hard work over many years by many local people who should be rightly proud of their achievements.

The point, play helps to socialise young people, they learn and support each other.

This helps community cohesion and positive growth.

So who in their right mind would want to take away a potential safe area to add more properties, thereby providing less opportunity for the young to play?

Planners should think about social consequences and hold proper consultation before making decisions which will have long-lasting effects.

Yes we do need more housing but I am positive sites are available to fulfil the need.

In the end who is best placed to know what is right for our local neighbourhoods, caring people like Viv or some local and borough councillors who clearly have different agendas?

This issue is a sad reflection of much that is wrong with the public sector these days, we talk, they pretend to hear then do what they were planning in the first place.

Chris Gozzard, Ruswarp Lane, Whitby