Why a petition launched for new skatepark in Tuggeranong, Canberra
Freedom. Fitness. Fun. A petition has been launched calling for a new skatepark in Canberra’s Tuggeranong region. Have your say in our poll.
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Skateboard enthusiasts are calling for a brand new skate park in Canberra’s Tuggeranong region.
A petition to the ACT Government has been launched with the support of the Canberra Skateboarding Association and ACT Greens crossbencher Johnathan Davis.
CSA vice president and volunteer skateboarding coach Brenden “Woody” Wood said it was important to maintain skateboarding infrastructure.
“Skateboarding tends to cater to some kids who might not be very interested in conventional sports and are attracted to the freedom, low pressure, and fun atmosphere of it,” Mr Wood said.
“I feel like I was one of those kids … staying fit is important and skateboarding was accessible to me – I could do it the way I wanted.”
Mr Wood said CSA aimed to be involved in community consultation processes to “advocate for the young boarders” and “give them a voice”.
Brindabella MP Johnathan Davis said the current Tuggeranong Skatepark was the oldest park in Canberra at 25-years-old.
“A replacement is well overdue,” he said
“Belconnen had their skatepark replaced, Woden had their skatepark replaced – now it’s Tuggeranong’s turn.”
Mr Davis said funding for a new skatepark should come from the $4.75m Lake Tuggeranong Foreshore Revitalisation Project fund, which was allocated in the 2021-22 budget.
“In March, I asked my community how they wanted to see the $4.75m spent — I had 433 respondents and received a lot of feedback about the state of the Tuggeranong Skatepark.
“Since then, I have met regularly with users of the skatepark, including the Canberra skateboarding association and can see that now is the right time to replace the Tuggeranong Skatepark”.
“Now is the right time to take advantage of the economy of scale and include a complete rebuild of the Tuggeranong Skatepark as part of the Lake Tuggeranong Revitalisation project.”
Beyond the Tuggeranong Skatepark, Mr Wood said he wanted to see the ACT government work towards creating a “skateboarding strategy”.
“Contractors don’t have skate park expertise, so we want to work with the ACT Government to introduce a strategy because we know what’s best for the parks,” he said.
“We’re still waiting to hear on that.”
“On a grassroots community level, the general public are pretty supportive of more skateparks, and a number of local politicians are really supportive of the idea, but we haven’t seen new facilities and we haven’t seen skate elements.”
Mr Wood said he wanted to see more work done at other skate parks in Canberra.
“In Belconnen, Labor came through and committed to a competition-standard half pipe if they won the election,” he said.
“Since then, there’s been some progress and the half pipe is in the late stages of planning, but we haven’t heard about the strategy, which is a little disappointing.
“There’s some sort of disconnect there, but we just want to keep the pressure on everyone, keep this issue in mind, and hopefully get some new facilities.”
- You can view the petition on the ACT Legislative Assembly’s e-petition page
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Originally published as Why a petition launched for new skatepark in Tuggeranong, Canberra