Work on a new skatepark in Ipswich’s Whitehouse Park is underway and is due to be completed by the end of October.

The need for a skatepark in the north-west of the town has been discussed for six years and planning permission was granted by Ipswich Borough Council last month.

Wheelscape was chosen as the designer and builder for the skatepark and has created a dynamic design based on the plaza style, which many skaters expressed great interest in during the consultation period.

Obstacles in a plaza are styled to look like natural street terrain such as stairs, railings, planters and benches – it is planned to look vastly different to the Stoke Bridge skatepark. The project has been made possible through The North West Big Local Trust, SITA Trust, Ipswich Borough Council and its North West Area Committee.

Committee chairman Albert Grant said: “We have worked hard to support the skatepark proposals and it is a credit both to our partners and my committee colleagues that this is now being built.

“I look forward to local youngsters using the skatepark in the very near future.”

Area committee councillor Robin Vickery added: “It’s taken a long time to come to fruition but the hard work has been worth it. We are all looking forward to the skatepark opening in the coming weeks and becoming a popular facility for youngsters.”

Concertus acted as the borough council’s consultants on the project and its director Matthew Self said it was great news that planning had been approved and work could now begin on what would be a “tremendous asset” for the community.

He added: “This project has truly been a multi-disciplinary approach for us, involving landscape architects, structural engineers, building and quantity surveyors. We look forward to the skatepark taking shape over the next few weeks.”

The demand for a new outdoor activity area was first raised in 2009 through consultations with the communities in Whitton, Whitehouse and Castle Hill wards.

Surveys done by Groundwork, a charity working with the council on the project, showed 31% of seven to 25-year-olds said they wanted a skatepark and 74% of them thought it should be in Whitehouse Park.