Greater Taree City Council will discuss the ‘unsatisfactory’ state of the Taree Skate Park at a future workshop.
Cr Alan Tickle raised the issue during urgent business at Wednesday night’s general council meeting, receiving unanimous support for his motion that also called for previous reports and the results of current investigations and discussions with skate park users to be presented at that workshop.
Cr Tickle raised the issued following concerns expressed in last week’s Manning River Times over the state of the skate park near Johnny Martin Oval, where Manning cricket officials and Taree High School students were pushing for the facility to be relocated due to the ongoing problems.
Cr Tickle, who also chairs council’s sport and recreation committee, believes there is no easy solution to the problem.
“Many will disagree with me, but to the skate boarders, their activity is as much a sport to them as cricket is to the other users of Johnny Martin Oval and it is pretty much impossible to ban the activity,” Cr Tickle said.
“We are then left to find a location that is suitable and where there will be some responsible behaviour and standards of use.”
To the suggestion that the recreation ground might be a better location, Cr Tickle said any such notion would need to go to the sport and recreation ground management committee and then to council’s sport and recreation committee before going to council to amend the plan of management for the recreation ground.
If agreed to, it would have to be incorporated into an amended plan of management after a period of public exhibition.
“However, I suggest that if the management committee of the recreation ground and council’s sport and recreation committee is not in favour of having the skate park at the recreation grounds, then while I believe that council could rule otherwise, it would be a brave move to not accept the recommendation of such a committee,” he said.
Cr Tickle also believes that if relocation is considered the solution, there will need to be some solid thinking on that problem.
“For example, who wants it? How will it be policed at a new location? Will there be any change in attitude of users?”
He said there was the problem in the past of makeshift parks in the CBD such as the stairs near the uniting church and Manning Mall. “Pedestrians were terrorised by skaters who used footpaths as their own skate highway,” Cr Tickle said
“If the skate park is shifted then, in my opinion, there would need to be a step up in ranger and law enforcement activity in the CBD and perhaps consideration of local ordinance and signage banning skate board activity in areas not designated as a skate park.
“The cost to relocate the park from a report that came to council about four years ago, from memory was in the order of $40,000 and I would suggest that this cost would now be higher.”
He said this meant other community uses for that money would be lost.
“To answer the question whether or not I am happy with the skate park’s present location, just let me say, that it does not present a favourable impression and is an eyesore, but we need to manage all of the issues that exist, either in its present location or if it is closed or re-located.
“While this matter is under consideration, the general manager has agreed to my informal request, that the council youth worker as part of the discussion and investigation of the various issues concerning the skate park, will impress upon the users that they run the risk of closure of the facility unless they (the users) take responsibility for the site and set a standard of self regulated behaviour where clean up of the whole site is part of the condition of use.”
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