The Hutt City Council is undertaking a revamp of the city?s skate parks this summer.
The Hutt City Council is undertaking a revamp of the city?s skate parks this summer. The only privately owned skate ramp on public land is in Normandale, and the council recently approved a grant to upgrade it with Skate-Lite material. ?It?s a composite laminate that is durable, smooth and doesn?t get too hot ? it?s apparently endorsed by Tony Hawke the greatest skater of all time,? says Hutt City Council reserves asset Manager Craig Cottrill. The Normandale Residents? Association paid for the ramp to be constructed because of the suburbs isolation, and are its current owners. The Stokes Valley skate park was the first to receive the upgrade and the Mellings over-bridge park is next in line. The council is currently assessing the vitality of underused skate parks. ?We are looking at whether to repair them of have them removed. ?The ramp at Victoria Street playground has little use, and we put a sign up at Petone Rec one year-ago, and people wanted that to stay,? he says. The Victoria skate ramp is also too steep and too short, and was not designed with input from local skaters. The Skate-Lite material is probably going to be used at the Mellings skate park, which Mr says is quite ?socially isolated?. ?The only problem there is graffiti, when I was in Porirua I drove past the skate park they have, with a great mural, and council officers were out there every morning cleaning the graffiti off it. ?Murals are not the end all of stopping graffiti in the community, ?says Mr Cottrill
