Skaters call for park update
Jake McDonald, and Sam and Josh Bracken are calling for the Leongatha skate park to be updated.
YOUTHS in Leongatha are calling for the town’s skate park to be updated, saying the bowl is too rough, too old and too boring.
The 20-year-old skating arena has received a mountain of complaints in recent times, and youngsters have decided to make a stand.
The Star spoke with around 15 skating enthusiasts at the bowl last week.
The skaters believe a new park would be the least South Gippsland Shire Council could do to support their interests.
“We’re not all footballers or basketballers. A lot of us don’t like that stuff. I think it’s only fair we have some sort of outlet as well,” Josh Bracken said.
Eighteen-year-old skater Jake McDonald helped design the Nyora and Loch skate parks and believes he, along with other interested kids, can create a design worth banking on.
Jake hasn’t suggested any outrageous plans, but would like to see a steeper drop inside the bowl, allowing for more speed, as well as grind bars and fun boxes to allow skaters to perform a greater array of tricks.
“The bowl we have here is pretty outdated. The design of skate parks have changed a lot in terms of safety and catering for different skills,” he said.
“We’re not looking to change the whole thing. Some small changes would make it much better.”
Safety has been an issue for the skaters, with the rough surface of the bowl causing many more grazes and cuts than normally associated with the sport.
The skaters have also found that scooters and BMX are coming back into popularity.
“There’s been a resurgence of bike riding and scooting, so the bowl needs to provide for these types as well,” Josh said.
Aware of the finance required to fund their plans, the guys have started brainstorming ideas.
“We could contact Wonthaggi or Inverloch to see if we could hold a competition there to raise some money,” Jake said.
“We’re happy to do it. We know we might have to raise dollar for dollar to get a state grant.”
Marg Tattersall, whose children were part of the driving force to get the bowl built in 1990, said the committee needed to raise $12,500 to get the initial project of the ground.
Mrs Tattersall hopes the skaters of today’s generation are willing to work to continue her children’s successes.
“It wasn’t an easy thing to get going. We held market stalls, raffles and all those sorts of things,” she said.
“It wasn’t a gift from God and it certainly didn’t happen overnight.”
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