SKATEBOARDERS in Oxford are hoping a decade-long search for a permanent home will soon be over.

Oxford Wheels Project has submitted plans for a £300,000 set of concrete ramps in Meadow Lane, East Oxford.

It would replace a temporary, wooden skate-park that was set up in 2001 and initially only planned to be in place for three years while a site for a long-term facility was found.

Committee member Mon Barbour said: “We have still got a lot of fundraising to do, which has been incredibly hard because a lot of grant-making bodies just don’t have any money.

“I think we may have lost one grant because we couldn’t spend the money fast enough because this is such a long-drawn-out process.”

The keen skater warned: “We may end up having to build the park in phases, which is a shame because we have been trying desperately to build this park for the past 13 years.”

The search for a site has proved complicated and controversial.

Meadow Lane was init-ially dismissed for a permanent facility due to concerns over flood risks, and the charity won planning permission to build on Marsh Park, Cowley, in May 2008. But in August 2008, Oxford City Council said it would not grant a lease application because of concerns about noise.

Now the charity says its plan for Meadow Lane should get permission because it has commissioned a flood impact assessments that rules out any flood risk.

Mr Barbour said: “It has been a huge uphill struggle to make this happen. It is also very hard to get people enthusiastic as they think the rug will be pulled out from underneath them again.

“If we get the planning permission and raise the money to do what we want to do there, it will make a massive difference and be a very well-used facility with a city-wide appeal.

“We have, and always have had, a lot of support from residents in Meadow Lane, which was not the case in Marsh Park.”

Mark Lygo, council board member for parks and sports, said he expected the plan to be approved and would “definitely” back it.

He said: “It is a safe, controlled environment and the folk of Meadow Lane are happy as well.”