Scotland's largest skate park could be built in Edinburgh’s Saughton district if plans are approved next week by the city council.

SCOTLAND’S LARGEST skate park could be built in Edinburgh’s Saughton district if plans are approved next week by the city council.

In line with Glasgow, Dundee and Perth, the £750,000 70m by 30m facility will be the first free skate park in Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Skatepark Project (ESP) has been campaigning for the best part of a decade to get a decent concrete area where skaters can practise their sport.

A spokesman for ESP commented that: “It’s embarrassing that Edinburgh doesn’t have an outdoor skate park.”

In Bristo Square, currently home to a healthy skating population, Student caught up with a number of skaters to see if the new park would tempt them away from their campus home.

“In America they’d go insane and build really stupid stuff,” said one skater, “but here they’re too worried about health and safety – that’s why we’d probably still come to Bristo – it’s more of a challenge.“

An indoor park opened at Ocean Terminal a few years ago, but local skaters demand a more testing outdoor facility.

If built, the new park will feature ramps matching the Bristo steps, rails, tracks and a small spectator stand.

Councillor Deidre Brock said: “Edinburgh’s skateboarders are a fantastic group of people who are as passionate about their sport as any golfer, swimmer or footballer and I am convinced that a new outdoor skate facility at Saughton Park would be a valuable asset for the city.”

Saughton residents aren’t so convinced, viewing the council’s plans as a trick too far.

The threat of increased anti-social behaviour is a major concern for residents, despite police support for the project.

Back in Bristo Square, James Watt, a third-year chemist and passionate skater comments that: “people think we are Neanderthal scum, and don’t want the wheels of our boards scraping anywhere near their neighbourhoods.”

Designers at Saughton have done what they can to minimise any neighbourhood disruption.

Built below ground level and surrounded by “anti-skate” paths to contain the skaters, CCTV cameras are to be fitted to every park lamppost.

Previous attempts to build skate parks in Edinburgh have failed, most notably the rejection of a scheme for Inverleith Park in 2006 which was rejected by residents following four grinding years of debate.

Thus far, the council has received 520 letters of objection against the Saughton scheme.