The locations of future skate parks in Wollongong and Thirroul will be one of the reports considered at the upcoming Wollongong City Council meeting on Monday 27 October.
The report recommends Council endorse MacCabe Park in Wollongong and WF Jackson Park in Thirroul as the locations of the new skate parks and seeks approval for these sites to go out for community feedback.
"I have no doubt this being discussed at Council will be welcome news to those passionate skateboarders in our community who have long advocated for Council to add more skate parks into the mix we offer,'' Lord Mayor of Wollongong Councillor Tania Brown said.
"There has already been a lot of work and community engagement that has happened to get us to this stage, and it's pleasing to see this work moving forward.''
Council had identified the need for a skate park in Wollongong and in the northern suburbs as part of the Sportsground and Sporting Facilities Strategy 2017-2021. The intention of these parks is to complement the city's current skate facilities in Helensburgh, Berkeley, Dapto, Fairy Meadow, and Unanderra, as well as the recently completed skate space at King George V Park in Port Kembla.
Skate park consultant Convic was tasked with preparing site selection reports for both areas to support Council's decision-making and future planning and design works.
In both the CBD and Thirroul, a number of parks and open spaces were considered before MacCabe Park and WF Jackson Park were recommended as the preferred locations.
In 2024 there was also input sought from the community on what they wanted Council and Convic to consider in planning new skate parks that would meet community needs and expectations. Feedback included ensuring future facilities were accessible and inclusive and met the needs of women, girls and gender-diverse individuals.
The parks had 10 key site assessment criteria that they were assessed against including access and public transport links, natural surveillance and proximity to residential properties.
"There has been a very robust assessment process that has led us to this point where we have a space in MacCabe Park that's east of the large landscape mound near Church Street, and the park on the western side of Lawrence Hargrave Drive in Thirroul that are the two locations recommended for Council's endorsement,'' Cr Brown said.
Should Council decide to endorse the locations at Monday's meeting, there would be an opportunity for community and stakeholder feedback to be gathered through a 21-day public exhibition.
If approved, the exhibition would start on Tuesday 28 October and run until midnight 17 November. A post-exhibition report would then be prepared capturing the stakeholder and community feedback and this would come back to Council for consideration prior to the adoption of the preferred locations.
"This is the next step in an ongoing process and I am looking forward to discussions with my fellow Councillors about this report at Monday's meeting,'' Cr Brown said.
"I encourage those from our community who are interested in skate parks to tune into the meeting online or to join us in person.''
