YARRAGON // COUNCILLORS have responded positively to calls for a skate park to be built in Yarragon.
Above: Jake Anderson at the Warragul Skate Park. Photo by William PJ Kulich.
First published in the 14 August 2015 edition of the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen – all dates relative to then. Click here to read the full edition online.
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A joint letter signed by 461 people asking the council to build an all ages, all abilities, family friendly skate park in the town was presented to councillors at a meeting in June.
At that meeting, councillors allocated $5,000 for a design for the park to be developed with community consultation.
The idea of a skate park in Yarragon is not new and has been researched by the council in the past. The council’s BMX Strategy 2012-2030 was developed to investigate BMX facility needs across the local government area.
That strategy found there was a need to develop new skate facilities in Yarragon and Erica or Rawson.
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At this week’s council meeting, a motion to undertake community consultation “to identify a suitable site for a skate park in Yarragon and complete its concept design in 2015/16 and “consider the budget required for the detailed design and construction of the Yarragon Skate Park project as part of the prioritisation of the Long Term Infrastructure Plan for the 2016/17 budget cycle” was passed unanimously.
“This recommendation sets out a further plan in progressing a skate park in Yarragon,” Mount Worth ward councillor Murray Cook told councillors at the meeting.
“The community, and especially the youth in Yarragon, stepped up and spelt out quite clearly the need for such a project and I was very impressed by the presentation of the youth at a previous council meeting.”
Fellow ward councillor Peter Kostos added: “our shire is going to grow extensively in population over the next number of years and if this skate park gets the funding it needs it will be a great asset for the future.”
Drouin ward councillor Tricia Jones echoed Cr Cook’s praise of those lobbying for a skate park.
“I have no hesitation to support this motion, especially as it was initiated for the community by the community,” Cr Jones said.
“What I think is very important is the children can make representation on an issue that is important to them, and that they can make a difference and are listened to.”
