MacCabe Park wrong site for skate zone, say green space supporters
Journalist Jeremy Lasek is a freelance writer and a member of the new Friends of MacCabe Park group
A newly formed Friends of MacCabe Park group has spoken out over plans to build a big regional skate park in the centre of MacCabe Park in Wollongong’s city centre.
Late last year, Wollongong City Council voted unanimously to go ahead with the skate park after a consultancy was asked to look at four potential sites in MacCabe Park.
Council says its decision to proceed was based on 85 per cent support during community consultation from 600 survey responses.
The Friends of MacCabe Park has countered this, saying of 20 written responses during the skate park consultation, 95 per cent were opposed.
On Tuesday, the Friends pegged out the 2500 square metre grassy area of MacCabe Park which it claims would be impacted should the skate park go ahead as planned. It takes out a substantial area in the heart of the park.
Neighbourhood Forum 5 convenor Jane Robertson attended the site and said council had the power to change the skate park location.
“I understand the value of a skate park and hope we can find a new location for one soon," she said. "MacCabe Park and its surrounding residents, as well as visitors to the city centre deserve a green space of tranquility and calm, to retreat and breathe amongst all the concrete.
“Council has the power to make this change of location happen. I really hope they do so, for the sake of the people of Wollongong.”
Friend of the park Peter Robertson said seeing the size of the proposed skate park laid out was alarming.
“Every citizen need to be shown not only the size of the proposed skate park, but the impact it will have on MacCabe Park’s green space as well. The sheer scale of the thing in this place is totally bonkers. Locating it in the city’s only civic park would be a shameful act.”
When council made its decision to install the skate park in the city’s largest urban park, ward 2 Labor Councillor David Brown flagged in the council meeting that the site may not be universally loved, saying: “I’ve got some sympathy for those saying we should sort out the MacCabe Park masterplan before populating the area with stuff.”
He also flagged that he’d be open to considering a new skatepark site if one could be found quickly. “I do believe we should stay alive to any other options for sites that might arise, and we should be agile enough in our thinking, in our processes, to make a pivot to an alternate site should one crop up that is better or just as good as this proposal."
The Friends of MacCabe Park have seized on this opportunity. They say they’re “100% supportive of a big new skate park for central Wollongong” but they believe there are “far better alternatives”.
Friends leader Patricia O’Brien said: “When council asked the community if we wanted a skate park, the only location offered was in MacCabe Park. There are several other options available which wouldn’t result in the loss of this precious green space. In a city centre that is fast becoming a sweltering concrete jungle, it doesn’t make sense to bulldoze grass to be replaced by 1000 tonnes of concrete which just adds to the heating of the CBD.”
Patricia said better options for the skate park would be the now available beachside Wollongong Showground number 2, adjacent to WIN Stadium and Beaton Park, the city’s premier sporting precinct.
The Friends group produced images of a typical community event which has been held at MacCabe Park in the past. They also showed the impact on the natural landscape during the construction of a large skate park.
“The Friends are respectfully calling on council to urgently revise plans for this skate park in MacCabe Park,” Patricia said. “This year Council will start work on a long-awaited masterplan for the park, now 15 years overdue. Building the skate park would be putting the cart before the horse.”
In a statement, council said it was continuing to move ahead with its “bold vision for MacCabe Park that continues to take shape”.
“The recent acquisition of the final privately owned Keira Street property on the western edge of the park comes as council progresses plans for the construction of the new city centre skate park and the development of the MacCabe Park master plan over the next 12 months,” the statement said.
“The decision to build the new regional scale skate park in the south east corner of MacCabe Park was endorsed by council in December last year after consultation confirmed strong community support for the proposal.
“Further community consultation will occur through the design phase for the skate park that comes alongside the planned demolition of the vacant Pioneer Hall. The resulting increase in open space aligns with the completion of strategic property acquisitions on Keira Street, a plan council first resolved to pursue in 1979.”
Lord Mayor Councillor Tania Brown expressed excitement for what is to come in the park.
“It is a process that has played out over time and that will continue, but we’re pleased to be getting on with the job of delivering what the community wants right now, including the new skate park. We’ve long identified the need for a skate park in the city centre and when I am out in the community, particularly local schools, I’m constantly asked about plans for the skate park and where they’re up to.”
The Friends of MacCabe Park are planning a protest on site at 11am on August 22.
Speaking on location today, Friend and town planner, Wendy Todd said: “To visualise the true impact of 1000 tonnes of concrete on this precious green space in our city centre is devastating. This is an appalling short-sighted decision by Council which will have irreversible social, environmental and amenity impacts on the only green space in our city heart for generations to come.”
