Angst over skate plaza

COUNCIL will talk to the community before deciding about building a skate plaza in Brelsford Park, says the council's director of city services, Ben Lawson.

COFFS Harbour City Council will undertake community consultation before a final decision is made about building a regional skate plaza in Brelsford Park, says the council’s director of city services, Ben Lawson.

The estimated cost for the skate plaza is $3.2 million, if the project includes all other suggested elements like a stage, audiovisual equipment, a performance space, creative and social spaces and a cafe.

The skate park cost alone is estimated at $2.1million.

At their April 14 meeting Coffs Harbour city councillors allocated $10,000 from Stage 2 of Brelsford Park work to begin detailed designs for a regional skate plaza at the north-western corner of Brelsford Park.

The site had earlier been earmarked as performance space.

The councillors were told by staff that the skate plaza proposal did not conflict with the existing plan of management for Brelsford Park.

In October 2010 councillors voted to ‘quarantine’ the City Hill site off Albany St for a performance space and to develop a master plan for the overall use of that site.

A staff report to councillors this month on a regional skate plaza and community arts centre said the Harbour Dr/Earl St corner of Brelsford Park had scored the highest of four ‘finalist’ sites in a weighted matrix assessment, scoring 76% as opposed to 55% for the Jetty Foreshores south of Marina Drive.

The other two sites were on the Jetty Foreshores- north of Marina Drive (44%) and near the Naval Cadets TS Vendetta building (43%).

Brelsford Park activist Nan Cowling is not happy with the selected site and is keen to see more public consultation.

“The positioning of the skate park on one of the

busiest intersections including a roundabout – it is a disaster waiting to happen,” she said.

She is concerned the site assessment represented a conflict of interest, as it was carried out by the Convic company, which built the Corindi skate park.

Mr Lawson said Convic was recognised as one of the leading specialists in skate park design and if council decided to proceed, it would call tenders for the work.

Mrs Cowling said council had had a user-pays system for all sports in the Coffs Harbour local government area for more than 20 years and skateboarding should fall under the same system, by starting small and generating the funds to expand and support the chosen sport.

She fears money for other planned improvements to the park may suffer if skating gets a guernsey.

She said council had allocated $1.25 million in May 2010 for barbecues, shaded tables and chairs, shade trees and benches, a jogging track, a scooter and wheelchair meeting place, a sound shell, garden beds, a sensory garden and a toilet block.

The site assessment report is on the Coffs Harbour City Council website.

Originally published as Angst over skate plaza