WORK on a new Abergavenny skatepark is due to start as soon as possible, nine months after planning permission for the site was approved.

Monmouthshire County Council is currently collecting tender bids for work on the skatepark in Pen-y-Pound and can not confirm when work will actually start.

Cabinet member for leisure and culture, Councillor Liz Hacket Pain, said the process in some ways was lengthened because they had to consider any objections and comments from local residents.

She said the project is still expected to cost £120,000.

Councillor Douglas Edwards said plans for a new skatepark have gone on for 15 years.

He said he now wants to see evidence of the quotes and a date of when work on the site will start.

He said: “We were promised work would start in September or October but there is no sign of anything starting yet.”

In February Cllr Edwards undertook a survey of local youngsters to see if the skatepark is something they would still be interested in having in the area.

The survey was carried out at King Henry VIII Comprehensive School and with year five and six pupils in three Abergavenny primary schools.

Cllr Edwards found 62 per cent of the 556 surveyed were in favour of a skatepark.