Orange City Council: One step closer to approving first parkour park in Central West

A council in the state’s central west is one step closer to approving a park designed for parkour to maximise positive youth engagement in the region. Here’s the latest.

A council in the state’s central west is one step closer to approving the first free and accessible parkour facility west of the Blue Mountains.

Orange City Council voted unanimously at a council meeting on Tuesday for a feasibility report to investigate the design, relevant costs and funding opportunities to construct a facility designed for parkour in Moulder Park.

Parkour is an athletic training sport where participants move along a route by overcoming various obstacles in the quickest and most effective way without the use of equipment, while often performing flips.

Cr Tammy Greenhalgh told The Dubbo News the facility was to accommodate the growing interest of the unconventional sport in the region.

“It started over a conversation I had with one of the instructors at Central West Gym Sports and he told me how their small indoor parkour had grown from 30 to 80 participants over the past 12 months,” she said.

Orange City Council voted unanimously at a council meeting on Tuesday for a feasibility report to investigate the design, relevant costs and funding opportunities to construct a facility designed for parkour in Moulder Park. File picture: Richard Dobson

“There aren’t any parkour parks in our region – you have to go to Newcastle or Sydney – it would fit in line with our community strategic plan of providing more spaces for the youth of Orange.”

“As a councillor, I think it’s really important that we listen to the youth because they are the future of our city.

Parkour

She said it would be in the town’s interest to create a community space where people can play, rather than travel to compete in new and emerging sports.

A Central West Gym Sports instructor told council chambers there was a growing interest in the unstructured sport, however accessibility was limited as only two facilities in Orange offer the sport.

“I want there to be an opportunity for teens and youths to learn how to do this sport safely … I also want them to have a community to support them with it too,” he said.