AN angry leading Teignmouth councillor says a group of residents opposing a seafront skate park should be 'ashamed of themselves'.

The comment comes from Cllr Terry Falcao, a town and district councillor who has been in the forefront of the project to convert the derelict paddling pool into a £100,000 skate park.

He was responding to a Save Our Seafront (SOS) campaign to stop the scheme on the grounds it would be 'a magnet' for large numbers of adolescents by day and night, leading to antisocial behaviour and criminal damage.

The group claims the decision to give the go-ahead for the facility does not reflect the views, needs or wishes of the vast majority of visitors and residents who treasure the quiet, relaxing, safe, flat and pedestrianised promenade.

According to a petition being circulated, there were 'grave concerns regarding the level of nuisance and noise which will be generated, and the risk to the safety of people, children and animals' using the area who would be 'brought into dangerous conflict with speeding skateboarders, or hurtling unmanned skateboards'.

The seafront is popular with parents and toddlers, the elderly, convalescents, and the disabled, including a large number of blind people staying at the specialist Cliffden Hotel, says the SOS group.

Council backing for the scheme was 'undemocratic', and would increase the noise, hazards, obstructions, injuries and damage already caused by skateboarders.

'It will destroy for ever our seafront's safe, relaxing character, and fine peaceful reputation and its ability to attract quiet, law abiding visitors from all over the UK – and this will have a profoundly negative effect on our town, tourism and economy, and our good name.'

The group calls on the council to rescind its backing for the scheme, and also introduce an immediate ban on existing skateboarding on the prom.

It believes a better location for the facility would be at Bitton Park, close to other youth facilities for the scouts and sea cadets. It would provide a larger and much better equipped facility, and the venue was supported by many youngsters.

In a press statement, the group says it will continue to challenge 'this inappropriate development and demands transparency and accountability in local government decision making'.

But Cllr Falcao accused SOS of 'scaring the vulnerable' with literature that was blatantly misleading. As a lawyer, he maintained the statements were causing harassment, alarm and distress, which could be construed as a criminal offence.

'They have deliberately confused the skateboarders, who are athletic young people, with the antisocial miscreants who drink and cause a nuisance around the play park at night.

'This is a disgraceful deception, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

'In truth, the objectors are proving to the rest of us that they are the real problem, not the skaters who only want a facility to practice their sport in the location where they already meet.'

Cllr Falcao also took a swipe at the mayor, Cllr Vince Fusco, and another councillor, James McMurray, for supporting the SOS group.

'This is surprising since these councillors previously voted in favour of the skate park. They did so in front of a gallery full of young people and their parents.

'Then, when the objectors filled the gallery at a later meeting, the councillors voted to try and force Teignskate [the body promoting the skate park] to put in an unnecessary planning application. People can draw their own conclusions from the changes in their voting patterns.'

Cllr Falcao was referring to the decision by Teignbridge Council's planning and legal department that converting the pool into a skate park did not require planning permission.

He added that the project, which has been talked about for more than 30 years, was on course for a May completion, 'but there is no room for complacency'.

Teignbridge council, the landowner, has given consent for the scheme, and much of the funding is coming from grants. There have been several public consultations on the subject.