A debate has arisen over whether the location of a skate park should be on Braidwood’s heritage listed main street or at the Rec Ground.
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While many Skate Park users would like to see the Skate Park in a prominent position in town, there are those who do want to see the Skate Park in the prominent entry point into historic Braidwood.
At the Palerang Council Meeting in Bungendore last week the minutes of the Braidwood Recreation Ground s.355 Committee held on 22 June 2015 were presented which included the ongoing plans for the Rec Ground Upgrade including a new skatepark.
Council have been working towards an upgrade plan including a youth precinct at the Rec Ground for some years and have gained funding from the NSW Government $500,000, Veolia Mulwaree Trust $100,000 and $350,000 the Braidwood community Bank - $200,000 of which was allocated towards a Skate Park.
Karuna Bajracharya, who has been spearheading a campaign to have the skate park in Ryrie Park addressed the council.
Karuna emphasised that location is key, he had assurance that the location would always be up for consultation. and that an online petition had received 60 signatures in 3 hours.
Cr Cockram moved that the $200,000 be split and $100,000 go towards the increased cost of the amenities building and the other $100,000 be kept over until further discussion of the placement was held and that Council seek advice from the funding agency as to whether the location of the skate park can be varied.
Cr Cockram said “The solution is to meet everyone’s expectation for the Rec - let’s leave the money aside and wait and see what happens with community consultation.”
The points were not accepted and the General manager said “tinkering with grants can be perilous. How will this affect the grant? State $500
“The application to Veolia and State was a for a youth precinct which included a skate Park. Council has signed an agreement with the state that puts in place milestones. There is another milestone which involves tenders for the skate park. Time is of the essence and this has to be expended in this financial year” he said.
Mr Bascomb added “if the state agency doesn’t accept skate park to be built elsewhere then we lose the money. It is better to seek a written response from the grant agency whether the location can be altered.”
Cr Marshall expressed “some scepticism on the Ryrie Park location. It’s too small. and contradicts the youth precinct….I’m leaning towards the planned location as we are wanting to have the park for the residents of Braidwood, not all the people going through to the coast.”
Cr Graham said “aside from the confusion around these and the inherent dangers of messing with grants it sould like the intent is to have the park in Ryrie park - it would be very hard for me to be convinced that this is the right thing to do… It would be a huge mistake to have all this concrete near the monument.”
Cr France said “ I don’t believe the people of Braidwood have even been consulted.
The General manager concluded that “Council has previously accepted a proposal for the precinct and accepted the grants towards it. Council is moving along those lines. There is nothing in either motion that directs council/staff to change that path.”
