Port Kembla gets new $500k skate park, plus Wonderwalls festival returns

Nearly $5 million has been announced for twenty-seven projects withing the 2505 postcode from the Port Kembla Community Investment Fund (PKCIF), many in the arts and creative spaces.

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Will Mitry has been advocating for a purpose-built family-friendly skate park in the area, and glad there is now $500,000 to build one.

"We're really happy this time that the kids get are seeing some of the funding through the skate park, we've been pretty disappointed in other rounds," the father-of-three said.

The new long-lasting skate park will need to find a new home, as the current spot on King George V Oval where the DIY park is setup is not suitable.

The Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce will work with Wollongong City Council to find somewhere suitable, while young people in the area will be called upon to help design the skate park with two years to complete it.

Chamber president Greg Rodgers said this round of grants really focused on "permanency of structure" and creating things local residents and visitors to the area would enjoy for years to come.

"A skate park is an example on that, upon completion a skate park could sit there for 20 years and provide that accessible and free entertainment and social interaction for people of all ages," Mr Rodgers said.

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The other funding too - like the Hill 60 platform development, the money for the Surf Club - it all contributes to Port Kembla meeting what the community expects from the area."

The surf club will see upgrades to their kitchen and toilets, King George V oval will see upgrades to the field, Red Point Artists will be able to produce community workshops, the Servo Food Truck Bar will get some minor upgrades, while the Wonderwalls street art festival was given a significant boost of nearly $200,000.

"There's still a stigma around Port Kembla that still exists ... about the girls and the drugs," Mr Rodgers said.

He said funding for events like Wonderwalls helps to cement major annual events in the area to showcase how the suburb has transformed into a creative and family-friendly destination.

"We're really driving to create these major events for every year, like the Port Kembla Music Festival [in April], we had the Fear Fest last Halloween where 2500 people turned up, and then Wonderwalls. And hopefully in years to come we could chuck in a big skate competition/event as well."

Port Kembla has been a key economic driver for the region since the 1890s, but with the decline of manufacturing so to has seen a decline in activity in the suburb.

The PKCIF is a competitive, merit-based program that financially supports projects that revitalise the suburb and surrounding areas for the benefit of the community through new infrastructure, upgrading of existing assets as well as encouraging visitors and tourism.

In 2022, funding was available for community infrastructure projects; business infrastructure projects and environmental projects to help decarbonise industry with a focus on heavy transport mobility.

Since 2016, the fund has supported significant improvements to Port Kembla, including new equipment for the Allan Street playground, the Big Island remediation project which restored native vegetation and rehabilitated the nesting habitat for little penguins and a new grandstand seating to King George V Oval.

www.nsw.gov.au/port-kembla-community-investment-fund

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