A DECISION to refuse plans for a skate park at Portishead’s Lake Grounds will be appealed during a hearing on Tuesday.

To be held at Somerset Hall in the town’s High Street, the session will hear arguments from members of the Portishead Skatepark Project and North Somerset Council representatives.

In February, plans for a skatepark at the town’s Lake Grounds were turned down by a North Somerset Council committee.

This was despite the proposals being supported by the town council and 400 expressions of support being given by residents.

North Somerset Council’s own planning officers also recommended the plans for approval.

However, the unitary authority’s councillors voted against the plans, saying the skate park would harm the character of the Lake Grounds.

Next week, members of the Portishead Skatepark Project, who have been searching for a suitable skate park site for more than two years, will be hoping to overturn the decision.

Since the plans were refused, North Somerset Council has been working with the town council to try to find an alternative location and, in August, governors at Gordano School gave their approval to the possibility of siting a skate park in the school’s grounds.

A working party was then set up to look further into the possibility.