Port Kembla Updates

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.