Though they rarely skate these days,they are disappointed the idea is yet to eventuate. “The backlash we met,it was actually really disheartening for a lot of us,” says Kinahan,who studies agricultural and environmental economics at Sydney University.
“It feels like at this point it’s going to be something for my own kids,not myself. Kids of that age need an outlet to get outside and get away from their computer screens and get amongst nature.”
Scott says the saddest part is how much the original plan has been watered down to make it palatable for the neighbours. “It’s almost no longer a skate park;it has skating elements.”
Over the years,opponents of the ramp have included former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull,who,while PM and the member for Wentworth in 2017,said skateboarders should go to Bondi Beach instead.
“Adding hard surfaces and concrete structures is not sympathetic to how the park is currently used by its visitors,” Turnbull wrote at the time. “These facilities also raise noise concerns for local residents that neighbour the park.”
The council’s decision to flirt with the skate ramp again has prompted a new wave of community opposition,led by groups such as the Darling Point Society,whose president Charlotte Feldman addressed last Monday’s meeting.
“We want our green open space to remain as is – a beautiful foreshore parkland,” she said. She was also concerned about the structure’s impact on the aeration of surrounding tree roots.
Another local,Sue Hanley,caused a minor stir in a community Facebook group when she lamented that “a small group of privileged Paddington kids want to cover[the grass] with steel and concrete so they can have a skateboard park”.
Hanley,74,told theHerald the criticism she received in the group was “bloodlust”. “It’s just so savage,” she said. She believes the park is already too heavily geared toward “active recreation” – sports – rather than “passive recreation” such as sitting and reading.
Hanley said eastern suburbs skaters could already access facilities at Bondi,as well as in Redfern,South Eveleigh and Sydney Park within the City of Sydney. She said she would contact individual Greens councillors to ask why they were supporting the proposal despite its alleged heritage and environmental impacts.
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Greens councillor Nicola Grieve said a lot of misinformation had been circulated about the plan,which was whipping people into “hysteria”. She said the proposed landscaping was “beautiful” and the facility was important for families who couldn’t afford private exercise classes.
“It’s our job to provide for our constituents,” she told Monday’s meeting. “The youth of Woollahra can’t wait any longer. Let’s get on and do it. We don’t want to be the council of do-nothing.”
The council meeting once again resulted in a stalemate. Residents First councillor Merrill Witt proposed to defer progress on the skate park until a full conservation management plan of the surrounding area was finished,which would delay the project by at least another two years.
Councillors were split 4-4 on whether to proceed,so the entire proposal will be debated at a full council meeting this month.
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