The Waipu Activity Zone (WAZ) committee has completed a skate park in Waihoihoi River Park after 30 years.
Committee member Peter Blanch says the skate park is stage one of the WAZ, and he is confident a half basketball court will soon be added and, hopefully, a pump track in the longer term.
Most of the money for the project came from the Waipu Car and Bike Show, organised by Ron Cave. The balance was raised by the Waipu Lions.
Peter says the Whangarei District Council has also contributed $100,000 for a walkway along Waihoihoi River through to the boat club on Nova Scotia Drive.
“To say it has been a journey is an understatement,” Peter says.
A committee consisting of Adam Wellford, Peter Dunn, Malcolm Norton and Peter Blanch has been trying to establish a WAZ since 1987.
The council allowed the committee to clean up the park and excavate an area for a skate bowl, but then the committee ran out of funds.
The project was picked up again in 2002, but surrounding neighbours objected to a resource consent application and there was a hearing by independent commissioners.
The commissioners ruled in favour of the objectors, saying the clacking sound of skateboards would be “more than minor”.
Over the years the committee had several other false starts, attempting to build the park on private land.
“All of sudden, Waipu began to change with a different mix of people. We’ve now been able to build it at the southern end of the park with minimal objection,” Peter says.
The committee has also benefitted from the efforts of new members Sally McKay, Ella Buckle and Amber Porter, who got the project across the line.
