Let's Talk Skateparks!

Thank you all for your participation in our recent topic on skateparks! We heard from over 430 people, and we are excited to be sharing back what we have heard from you.

Who we heard from

From 28 March to 1 May 2024, we launched the conversation with the community ‘Let’s Talk Skateparks’. We had 1.4k project page views during the engagement period and 430 commented using our survey and ideas board.

Here is a summary of what we heard from within our survey:

• Information about what suburbs is in each Ward can be found here - Ward 1, Ward 2 and Ward 3. The highest recorded suburbs of people who participated to the survey were:
  • Thirroul – 57
  • Wollongong – 27
  • Fairy Meadow – 19
  • Port Kembla – 19
  • North Wollongong 19
    
    

What we heard

• Shade, water and lighting are the top three favoured elements that should be considered in the design of the new skateparks.
• Modern skateparks should feature visually appealing, culturally reflective designs, cater to all skill levels with diverse obstacles, include essential amenities and be inclusive, accessible, and community-oriented, while supporting professional and competitive use.
• Good lighting, security cameras, open and visible locations, inclusive design for different skill levels, family-friendly spaces, essential amenities, community engagement, and aesthetically pleasing, well-maintained environment are all really important factors for a skatepark to have for the community.

If you want to read more, we have created an Engagement Report you can view that captures the feedback from the Let’s Talk Skateparks in more detail.

What happens from here?

We will use the information gathered from the ‘Let’s Talk Skateparks’ in a number of ways such as:

• Supporting the design process for the new skateparks in Wollongong City Centre and Thirroul
• Consider the data in any future strategies in Sports and Recreation
• Use the data to understand the audience in similar recreational spaces.

We will continue the conversation on skateparks with all participants who contributed to the Let’s Talk Skateparks engagement. The Engagement team will continue updates direct to those who opt in using email. To be added to the Skateparks Register of Interest, click the 'Follow Project' on this page or email engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au and ask to be added to the 'Skatepark Stakeholder list' to have emails direct to you. You will see future updates on the Our Wollongong webpage and our social media channels.

Update - 1 July 2024

Over 130 people completed the online pre-design survey for the new skatepark in Wollongong City Centre. Around 40 people attended the in-person workshops with CONVIC at our Wollongong Youth Centre back in April. The online survey told us the preferred style of skatepark in Wollongong City Centre was a ‘Street and Plaza’ style. This was also heard at the workshop:

The next time we go out to community will again be with CONVIC and will have roughly a 50 percent completed skate design. In-person and online engagement opportunities will happen again, including priority for targeted female and gender diverse engagement. We will let you know when we are planning to do our next engagement activities on the Draft Concept Design for Wollongong City Centre.

Update - 9 May 2024

Now we have moved into the next stage of designing our new skatepark in Wollongong City Centre. As you may know, have teamed up with CONVIC, a renowned Australian skatepark designer to help us bring our community’s skatepark vision to life. We have created a ‘Pre-design Survey’, where you can provide more detailed input into what you want to see in our new skate park.

Thue survey is getting down into the nitty gritty of design stuff we need to hear to start drafting up a concept design. We have included some images to help stir some ideas and inspire your thoughts when completing this survey. You can find link to the survey below:

• Pre-Design Survey for Wollongong City Centre Skate Park

We are still working through locations for Wollongong City Centre. Hosting these surveys with the broader community for each location will give us more of an idea of what the community wants and will help support us in choosing the most appropriate site.

Feedback for these surveys close Friday 24 May 2024.

Update - 1 July 2024

From 9 – 24 May, we started our design process for the future skatepark in Thirroul.

We had 123 responses to the online pre-design survey and around 40 people attend the pre-design workshop with CONVIC at Thirroul Library in April. The online survey told us the preferred style of skatepark in Thirroul was a ‘Both Street and Bowl’, with a strong preference for some kind of bowl to feature in the new design. This was also a similar conversation that was had at the workshop.

The next time we go out to community will again be with CONVIC and will have roughly a 50 percent completed skate design. In-person and online engagement opportunities will happen again, including priority for targeted female and gender diverse engagement. We will let you know when we are planning to do our next engagement activities on the Draft Concept Design for Thirroul.

Update - 9 May 2024

Now we have moved into the next stage of designing our new skatepark in Thirroul. As you may know, have teamed up with CONVIC, a renowned Australian skatepark designer to help us bring our community’s skatepark vision to life. We have created a ‘Pre-design Survey’, where you can provide more detailed input into what you want to see in our new skate park.

This survey is getting down into the nitty gritty of design stuff we need to hear to start drafting up a concept design. We have included some images to help stir some ideas and inspire your thoughts when completing this survey. You can find link to the survey below:

• Pre-Design Survey for Thirroul Skatepark

We are still working through locations for Thirroul. Hosting these surveys with the broader community for each location will give us more of an idea of what the community wants and will help support us in choosing the most appropriate site.

Feedback for these surveys close Friday 24 May 2024.

Update - Wednesday 29 May 2024

From the 26 March to 15 April, we opened up a conversation with the community around the proposed location for a permanent skate space in Port Kembla’s King George V Oval.

We communicated the project out to the community in a multitude of ways. This included:

• We sent 690 letters out to property owners and residents within a 400 metre radius of the proposed location
• We set information live on the Our Wollongong website
• We sent emails to local businesses, schools and organisations in and around Port Kembla
• We shared information on our social media platforms and website on the project
• We put signage up around the location in Port Kembla with information and a QR code linking to the online project page

The participation of our engagement was:

• We received 2 emails regarding the project
• We had 17 hard copy surveys returned to us
• We had 18 people attend the in-person Community Drop-in Session on Monday 8 April
• We had 493 people view the engagement page via Our Wollongong, and 61 people leave their feedback online using the survey

The Results

The data was a combination of online surveys via Our Wollongong, returned hard copy surveys and an email received via the Engagement inbox. The total was 80 submissions.

In Support

Some key themes of those who were supportive of the preferred location

• The proposed location already had a strong sense of community and coming together due to the PKDIY skate park which people wanted to see continued.
• The location is central with water, people, shade and shops nearby.
• A future skatepark is a positive recreational asset for the area and encourage more people to socialise and stay active.

Unsure and Not Supportive

Some of the concerns for people who were unsure and not supportive of the preferred location included

• The location was not currently resources with essential amenities like a toilet, footpaths or parking.
• Noise of skaters and people using space
• Safety of the site
• Likelihood of increase social disturbances.

You can read the full Engagement Report if you would like to understand the responses in more detail.

Next Steps

Council will consider the findings from the engagement and work with the Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce and Industry group to deliver a skatepark that meets the needs of the community.