The step-by-step guide to getting your town a skatepark - PART ONE
You've tried footy. You've tried soccer. You've even tried netball, but didn't seem to like any of them. "Is there as sport for me?" you wonder, until your eyes fall upon a nearby skateboard. You pick it up, start to practice, and pretty soon you're kickflippin' and pop-shuvit-ing with the best of them.
You decide you want a challenge, something new, somewhere to skate with other skaters. You decide you want a skatepark. Sadly, the closest one is half an hour away.
Well don't fret, and please don't go back to playing netball - there is something you can do. The youthcentral team is proud to bring you a step by step guide to getting your town a skatepark!
Step one: Gathering interest, and first contact
The first thing you should do is talk to other skaters, riders, rollerbladers etc. (if there are any). If there aren't, you may have a bit of trouble getting the council's attention, but there will more than likely be at least a couple.
They will, no doubt, all be interested in a skatepark for the area, and be more than willing to lend support. On top of this, a few well-placed petitions can help you to assess the interest of the community as a whole.
Now that you've established that there are other people who'd be interested in a skatepark, it's time to contact someone with the power, and the funding, to make it happen.
Initially, it's probably best to do this by phone. The people to contact are your local shire. You can find their contact details on the Find your local council page (link) on the Your local area page for your local area. Explain to them what you're calling for, and I'm sure the receptionist will point you in the right direction.
It's important to choose a spokesperson for your group, so that every time you call it's the same person talking.
Be sure to be as polite and as pleasant as you can, as they will be more helpful if you are. Also, don't try and sell it to them over the phone. It's best to set up a face to face meetingwith the appropriate councilor and leave all of the nitty-gritty details until then. For now, just outline your situation (e.g., tell them that you're a group of skaters who are interested in a skatepark and would like to talk to them about it, or something similar). Set up a time for the meeting, and you're well on your way to shredding at your very own local skatepark!!
Step two: The meeting(s)
You've set up the meeting, you're all feeling good, there's a sense of excitement in the air. But, don't get ahead of yourselves - this is the just the first of many, many meetings you will have with your shire.
While it's likely everyone will be fired up and all want to come to the meeting, its better to keep it down to three or four people, from different age groups if possible.
It's important to be clear on what you all want to get out of this before you head in to the meeting, so that you can all be on the same page. If you don't know what you want, how are you going to tell the council? It's not necessary to draw up plans, but you should decide a few important details (such as whether you'd prefer metal or concrete, whether it'll be a vert/street park, and so on).
Of course, it's likely you'll all have to compromise, and it's equally likely that the council will have ideas of their own, so remember to be flexible. When you get there (making sure to be on time/early), remember to be polite and attentive, and don't make any aggressive demands.
Councils are usually thrilled that there are young kids out there that are trying to get active and make a change, and you may find that they even have some money in their budget for this sort of thing. Usually, if all goes well, another meeting will be scheduled, probably with an engineer or planner who will work with you to help create plans.
If it doesn't go so well, for example if they have no money or simply aren't interested, don't be disheartened. These things can be overcome with a little work, so keep at it.
Stay tuned
That's it for now, but do not fret, because coming EXTREMELY soon to youthcentral is "The step-by-step guide to getting your town a skatepark- Part two", where the solutions to the above problems will be outlined and the remaining steps will be revealed.
Good Luck, and bye for now.
Articles Written by Lachie
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