Bristo

This boy came over and started laying into me, then I fell down so his mate came over and lay into me as well. Broke my cheekbone, my nose and left me with a scar over my eye. I couldn't see for three days. (Kieron, 17)

This incident occurred in Edinburgh's Bristo Square and was reported to police, but so far no arrests have been made.

Owned by Edinburgh University, skateboarders and in-line skaters have been using Bristo Square for more than 20 years; it is a landmark for visiting skaters and has helped foster a scene that supports shops, clubs, zines and art works across the city. Stew Rattray, owner of Edinburgh skate store Focus explained, "Other cities have parks, but no other city has such a focal point for people to meet."

On Aug 1 2005 a dispersal order, which gives police the power to move on anyone causing a nuisance, was issued to the 'undesirable element' that congregated in Hunter Square off the Royal Mile; these people subsequently relocated to Bristo Square. Edinburgh University student Richard Roberts, spokesman for the Skateboard Scotland campaign group, commented only a month later that, "Bristo is now effectively a no-go area for skaters, especially younger ones, and there is no doubt that all this trouble started when the dispersal order came into force."

Almost a year later and nothing has changed. Daniel Hoyland has been skating Bristo Square for over three years; "You can't just have a relaxed skate anymore, you feel intimidated and always have to have a sense of awareness." Most skaters who use the square during the day, like Daniel, are in their mid to late teens and have little chance of defending themselves against rowdy homeless people and alcoholics with angry animals.

"Myself along with another eight skaters were chased out of Bristo by a gang swinging belts, and after a friend took a belt to the forehead - from which he bled considerably - we went to St Leonard's police station. We insisted that the police go and look for these people; their reply was that we would have to wait half an hour before anyone would even speak to us." (Robbie, 19)

Graham Tait, a manager at Focus, sums up the issue, "The seriously violent stuff stands out, but the hassle is constant."

A police spokesman claimed he, "wasn't aware of any rise in the number of incidents" since August 2005, and Councillor Sheila Gilmore, Executive Member for Community Safety and Housing, offered the following statement; "We have not received any complaints about this but if it has happened, it is outrageous." The police and council said the same thing back in September 2005, but to date have not taken any action.

The police spokesperson explained that the dispersal order was issued for Hunter Square after a large number of complaints from residents. He wasn't aware, however, how many incidents involving skaters in Bristo Square had been reported in the last year, and how many it would take for the situation to be "closely monitored". In a telling post-script, he added, "Bristo is a 'special case' since skateboarding itself might be considered an anti-social behaviour."

It's baffling that this attitude persists given the industry that has grown around skateboarding; its use in adverts, music videos and fashion has led to what was once considered a counter-culture becoming, as Stew Rattray puts it, "almost completely socially acceptable".

Apart from Bristo, there aren't any other city-centre options for skaters and Edinburgh's purpose-built skateparks are situated at the edge of the city in dangerous, difficult to access areas, where 'undesirable elements' also congregate. Saul Ayton, assistant manger of Route 1 on Cockburn Street put it this way, "A friend asked for directions to the new skatepark in Gilmerton and was told 'get off the bus at that pub where that boy was shot the other day'."

The park at Ballantire was another example of the trouble faced by skaters and yet offers some hope in the way it has turned around. Skaters were at first hassled by, according to Graham Tait "the cheekiest little shits you've ever met in your life, wielding golf clubs and hurling stones". Things have calmed down since the novelty factor of the place has worn off and the troublemakers have moved on or even take up skateboards themselves. "They realise they don't have to be total assholes their whole life… They can be an asshole on a board," says Stew with a hint of sarcasm.

Many skaters feel that a lack of respect is rife throughout the police and is likewise demonstrated by the council who build small 'satellite' skate parks around the often unsafe outskirts of the city as a gesture, not a solution. The city centre is covered with cycle paths, sports fields and playgrounds, so why not one skatepark?

Plans for a skatepark in Inverleith Park have been bogged down by complaints from residents since the first planning application was submitted months ago. As one skater put it, "the people who live near the Meadows and Inverleith think of these areas as their front yard and they're not, they're public space."

Whilst local media have noticed the problems at Bristo, one question has never come up: would official reaction be different if this sort of violence and intimidation were perpetrated against cricketers in the meadows or families using a play park? Perhaps predictably, complaints by residents of Edinburgh's wealthy areas seem to carry considerably more clout than those of young people who have chosen to do something other than sit on a park bench.

While the skatepark saga continues, the importance of Bristo to the skaters remains. Mark Murray, who's been skating at Bristo for seven years, says; "I love Bristo better than any skatepark. If the council spent the money for a skatepark on doing up Bristo that would be just as good."

No one at Bristo is looking for special treatment or extra protection, the skaters who use and respect the area simply want the same rights as anyone playing pitch and putt on Bruntsfield links. Both Bristo veterans and new skaters acknowledge that the space is not theirs and are happy to share it, without the threat of violence. Regardless of when or if Edinburgh gets a new skatepark, the 'unsuitable element' needs to be tackled at Bristo, for the sake of all users and not only the skaters.

However, even if Bristo Square is tackled as Hunter Square was, this will not be an end to the story. Disadvantaged Edinburgh residents, this 'undesirable element' cannot continue to be 'dispersed' indefinitely. Our beautiful city centre is for everyone's use and it is for the police and the council to ensure that this can happen without violence, without threat and in the future, without bias.