A local man, Michael Payne, has written in the Oakham Nub News to voice his concerns for the youth of Rutland, sharing his opinion that they are being let down by local Councils and their forebears.

Michael wrote:

There has been a lot of talk on social media recently about more being provided for the young people of Oakham and Rutland - a lot of talk and unfortunately not much action to date, as far as I can see.

As such, I was delighted to hear that The Oakham Skatepark Project might be able to offer Rutland's youth a space where they can go to get fit, practice discipline and learn a new hobby. After the success that Great Britain and young Sky Brown saw in the Olympic Skateboarding categories, I imagined a few more hobbyists and athletes might be inspired.

I expected that people would have noise concerns, and of course people are entitled to their opinion, but the assumptions that a new skatepark would provoke anti-social behaviour surprised me somewhat.

I believe that young people who already participate in drug usage will not be the ones attending the skatepark, and this drug use will be there regardless. So why prevent a generation of enthusiastic young people from practicing their hobby and keeping fit (among other benefits) because of a lone few who, frankly, will not be the ones taking up any opportunities given to them anyway?

Consider also, that it is a small few who would be anti social, so it seems rather unfair to let a minority ruin it for the ambitious and enthusiastic children and young adults who want to succeed and socialise well within the remit of the law.

I was musing this when, last week, I found out that Rutland County Council plan to close The Parks School. This revelation, on top of the clear resistance to The Oakham Skatepark Project, made me wonder: are we intent on letting down the youth of Rutland?

This school appears to be the only specialist school left in Rutland and, having read testimonies from parents, will be hugely missed. With the highest Council tax in the country, are we to be the only county without both a specialist school and a public swimming pool in which to teach our young to swim?

Do we not want to better our young and give them the chances that we did not get?

I would be interested to hear some ideas about how we could provide for the youth in a way that makes the local community feel comfortable - do we have any ideas, or purely criticisms? The Rutland residents are, in my experience, a warm and welcoming group of individuals, and I believe that we can do better.

I do not wish to provoke vitriol with this opinion. I was merely hoping to inspire some constructive conversation and room for thought.

Join the conversation and share you opinion by emailing [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you.