ABERYSTWYTH Town Council will have to fork out another £12,500 towards a long-awaited skatepark development after being told delays would mean the project costs rising.

The long-anticipated £500,000 Cae Kronberg skatepark and plaza project which will see wasteland on Boulevard St Brieuc transformed into a riverside green plaza complete with picnic benches, public art and a skatepark, has been beset by problems since outline planning for the scheme was agreed.

A bid for £500,000 in lottery cash was initially turned down, while promised Welsh Government money for the project was withdrawn following a change in funding rules in 2013 despite gaining initial planning permission, attracting match-funding and inviting tenders for the work.

Councillors have now been told that the £60,000 of Aberystwyth tax-payers money earmarked for the project will now have to raised to £72,500 after being told that the project had “gone on so long” that extra costs for design and building quotes had risen.

Councillors agreed to put in the extra money, for fear of the long-awaited project being “lost forever” or reduced in scope and size.

Cllr Jeff Smith told members at a meeting last Tuesday: “We should put the extra money in. We are getting a lot for the money and it’s an important development.

“I don’t want to see the scheme reduced in size – that would be a great pity. Everyone has put so much into this that to lose it would be a blow.”

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