A DIY skate park at Port Kembla could get a reprieve from being torn down if a motion before Monday night's Wollongong City Council meeting is passed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The park was built by residents and their kids during last year's COVID lockdown but council decided in mid-March that it had to be torn down due to concerns about safety.
Ward 3 councillor Ann Martin, who watched as the skate park was built, has a motion for Monday's meeting asking council to consult with residents and find out what needs to be done to bring the park up to the appropriate safety standards.
"I want council to come up with a compromise with those residents and those kids," Cr Martin said, "so that we can continue a temporary skate facility either there or somewhere else in Port Kembla.
"That should include talking to the residents surrounding the site and those currently using the skate park facilities."
She said council officers had already spoken to residents about the safety of specific parts of the skate park.
"There's already been a conversation between council officers and members of the community and I would like that conversation continued," she said.
"Those elements that can be fixed let's fix them. Those elements that can't be fixed because they're not up to standard, remove them.
"If there's absolutely no support in Port Kembla for the skate facility on that site as a temporary skate facility, then let's find a site when where we can put that skate facility because that process would take two to three years anyway."
While she noted Port Kembla was "a community that's very motivated" the builders of the park should have come to council first, which could have avoided a number of issues.
She also didn't want to send a message that other communities should do something similar.
"It's not appropriate for communities to go off on their own," she said.
"They really need to have some early conversations with council. But in this case this is what's happened and we have to work with what's happened."
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign up for breaking news emails below ...
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
