SUPPORTERS of a project to create a new skate park in Portishead fear the town council will make a u-turn on its backing of the scheme at a meeting this week.

Campaigners fighting for the facility are furious that councillors, many who have previously voted in favour of the Portishead Skatepark Project (PSP) pursuing a park at the Lake Grounds, are being asked to confirm their current views to North Somerset Council.

Councillors are due to debate the issue on Wednesday.

The town council voted in favour of a park at the Lake Grounds in December 2009 and in 2011 wrote to the district authority in support of them granting a lease to PSP for the Lake Grounds site.

Having gained planning permission in November 2011, PSP was then refused landlord’s consent. However, the group has now resubmitted its application after councillors failed to find a suitable alternative site.

Mum-of-three and supporter of a skatepark at the Lake Grounds, Liese Stanley, says councillors are not listening to the people of Portishead as the planning application received formal support from 450 residents and only 31 objections.

Liese, who has now launched a petition appealing to North Somerset Council to grant a lease to PSP, said: “I feel that North Somerset Council is trying to pass the buck to the town council and fear that district party politics will override the needs of young people who have been campaigning for many years to have an outdoor, free-for-all skatepark in Portishead.”

Anyone wanting to support the petition can view it at www.change.org by searching for Portishead skatepark.