A SKATE park, almost five years in the making, has received a massive boost and could be built within a matter of months.

The idea of a skate park being created off the town's Whittingehame Drive has been discussed for a number of years after youngsters approached the town's community council.

And late last week, the project received a £50,000 boost from Viridor Credits, which means the scheme is almost a reality.

Stuart Gibb, area manager for the Haddington and Lammermuir and Dunbar and East Linton wards, was delighted with the good news.

He said: “Our next stage is to proceed with planning permission, which is being worked on at the moment and we hope to go into that very soon.

“All being well and assuming there are no hiccups, we anticipate planning permission by the end of the year with a view to going into the build phase early next year.

“Then, we hope to launch in the spring.”

The skate park is expected to cost roughly £108,000.

Funding had already been secured from East Lothian Council, Haddington Community Development Trust (HCDT) and the town's community council, with the youngsters also fundraising.

Mr Gibb said “the major hurdle” was now overcome and he hoped things would move now forward reasonably quickly.

Other work has also been carried out by the local authority looking ahead of funding being secured.

Mr Gibb and colleagues have met with local residents and Haddington Athletic to check if there were any concerns.

One thing that could happen is the creation of parking spaces near the site, which is next to the town's 3G pitch.

Mr Gibb stressed the spaces would be for the general public and not just those using either sport facility or the neighbouring cemetery.

Earlier this year, members of the public were allowed to vote for their favourite design from a choice of three for the skate park.

A poll was put on the community council's website with more than 125 people picking their favourite scheme.

Jan Wilson, chairwoman of the community council, thanked everyone for their support and described the news as “the icing on the cake” following Blooming Haddington's success at the Beautiful Scotland awards earlier this month.

She said: “It is just fantastic news.

“It's been quite a long journey and I remember the young lad Gavin McManus writing me a letter and we invited him to the community council.

“He was about 14 and he spoke really well and that was what really started the ball rolling.

“The team was formed and we just didn't have a clue where to start.

“Mike Lemmon, from Mike's Bikes, came on board and he knows a lot about skate parks and he was the one who kept us going with all he knew.

“He got the boys fundraising and they did quite a lot and raised about £4,000 in a year.

“We as a community council pledged a couple of thousand pounds but then we seemed to flounder a bit in getting over the final hurdle.

“The local are partnership came on board and it just took off at a rate of knots.

“With the help and expertise of the area partnership and the Council it seemed to get done in no time; it was absolutely fantastic news when I heard the news this week.”