Rally airs MacCabe Park skatepark concerns
The writer, Jeremy Lasek, is a Friend of MacCabe Park and a member of NF5. He is married to town planner Dorte Ekelund
After listening to speakers express concern that Wollongong City Council had decided to locate the skatepark in the hottest part of the city, an independent Ward 2 councillor told a rally that when it came to a vote on the matter, he had little choice but to vote yes.
“It was very difficult for me to decide,” Cr Andrew Anthony said. “All the councillors agreed that we need a skatepark in the city but unfortunately the report (to council), to use a word, and I’ve got to be careful what I say here, but I guess I can say it was quite (indecipherable) and orchestrated, and perhaps gave the illusion that councillors had been given a choice.
''But really the choice that councillors were given was whether or not we want a skatepark in MacCabe Park; the choice was where do we want it in the park.”
Cr Andrew Anthony at the mic. Right: People brought placards to help make their point. Photos: Jeremy Lasek
Cr Anthony said he agreed with community members who said the parkland was more precious than ever given “there’s all the high-rise development going up around the city and it’s become more and more important.”
“Councillors feel there’s a strong push from the community to have a skatepark, and this was the only option we’ve been given to choose from,” Cr Anthony said.
A number of speakers at the rally questioned why council didn’t give the community at least one more option for the new skatepark.
Call for a rethink
Harold Hanson, Wollongong’s oldest surviving councillor from the 1960s and 1970s, called on the council to rethink plans for the park, saying a skatepark in MacCabe Park would be a “betrayal” of decisions taken many decades ago to increase the park’s green space.
“In my mind, what this council is doing at the moment is betraying the trust of nearly 50 years, in establishing a great park in a great city. Every great city has a great park,” Harold, now 93, said.
He called on council to honour the commitments of the past and to increase MacCabe Park’s green footprint, and to find a different location for the skatepark.
Saturday’s rally started out with musician Matt Fanning belting out the Joni Mitchell classic Big Yellow Taxi with a small lyric change to say “you paved paradise and put up a big skatepark”.
Protesters at the park rally. Photos: Jeremy Lasek
Calls for a new location
The event ended with three resolutions passed. The crowd called on council to immediately stop the planning for a skatepark in MacCabe Park and to look at alternative sites away from the city centre. The crowd also called on council to expedite the master planning of the park before any new works were done, and to prioritise building the city’s newest skatepark on a site which wouldn’t add to the heating of the city.
Friends of MacCabe Park convenor Patricia O’Brien said “we don’t seem to be planning for the city we are becoming. We are planning to pour 1000 tonnes of concrete into the most useable part of our central park.
"Thousands more people, and many with children, will be living in high-rise apartments around and in the CBD. That changes what we need from our public places. As we build upwards, our responsibility to protect accessible green space doesn’t diminish. It increases. We are planning to rip up 2500 square metres of lush green grass to make way for a heat-absorbent skatepark with its infrastructure.”
Photos: Jeremy Lasek
Photos: Jeremy Lasek
Can't be reversed
Town planner Dorte Ekelund led the creation of a community-led discussion paper which reimagines what MacCabe Park could look like when it celebrates its centenary year in 2035.
“For too long, MacCabe Park has been neglected, its infrastructure allowed to run down, with no plan for its future and no vision for how it could be a magnificent central park that we could all be proud of, and become a destination we love taking visitors to,” Dorte said.
Following consultation with park users, people who live near the park and those who take an interest in it, more than 100 ideas were put forward to present new options to enhance the park.
These ranged from things which are commonly found in most parks; more seating and picnic tables, shelters, barbecues and water bubblers and many more shade trees, to more ambitious suggestions: relocating the dry Mercury Five Islands Fountain from the botanic gardens, back to the city where it was created in the 1980s, and creating a large nature-based children’s adventure playground, complete with playful water features.
Photos: Jeremy Lasek
Looking for a 'win-win'
Dorte called on council to look for a “win-win”, “protecting and enhancing MacCabe Park while delivering on a fantastic central Wollongong skatepark away from the heat of the city.”
She suggested sites which could be investigated included the former Dragons training ground, Showground Number 2, which is now vacant and unused, and an area of Stuart Park near its entry which currently has drainage issues, and which Council is in the process of fixing.
“As a town planner, my job has always been to get the best possible outcomes for the community, not just in the short term but for future generations,” Dorte said.
“As skateboarding is now an Olympic sport, how attractive would a coastal location be for state, national and international competitions? The aerial shots over Wollongong’s coastline would be magnificent compared to the aerial shots of a skatepark in MacCabe Park which would reinforce the park is surrounded by dense urban development. Not exactly the destination for your next holiday or likely to be featured in Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor.”
Neighbourhood Forum 5 (NF5) convenor Jane Robertson told the rally the forum had been calling on council to masterplan MacCabe Park since 2011 “to reinvigorate this ignored central park”.
“Before embarking on any project in the city, town planning is essential to create the liveable city that we elect our council to provide,” Jane said.
“Why not a thought-out plan for the whole of our central 100-year-old park? Not a bit here and a bit there, before who knows what we will end up with.
“Nobody knows – there is no masterplan.”
City's 'green heart'
In a statement, council said “through all its different eras, MacCabe Park has remained the green heart of a changing Wollongong city centre. That evolution will continue through an exciting new phase with the development of a MacCabe Park Masterplan.”
Lord Mayor Cr Tania Brown said the looming next chapter for the park shaped as the most exciting yet.
“Plans for MacCabe Park have evolved and shifted over time, but it has remained steadfast in the heart of Wollongong and the community over many years,” Cr Brown said.
“While we’re taking a long-term view, there are some exciting things happening right now, including an increase in open space, through the demolition of Pioneer Hall, and construction of a long-called-for city centre skatepark on the eastern side of the park.
“Progressing these projects alongside the long term opportunities offered through the development of the Masterplan ensures Council be makes the best use of a prized community asset, to meet immediate and future needs of our community.”
The statement from council said the city centre skatepark received overwhelming community support. The contract for design and construction of the 1500 square metre skatepark is expected to be let in October and the process will include further community consultation.
Jeremy Lasek is a Friend of MacCabe Park and a member of NF5. He is married to town planner Dorte Ekelund.
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