Marlborough’s skaters, scooter riders, BMX bikers and their families will be pleased by investments into making Blenheim’s skatepark safer and more accessible year-round.
The $72,000 approved funding requested by Skate Marlborough will be invested into lighting, mural painting and shade in the skatepark, which Skate Marlborough’s Aimee Payne, Adam Albright and Anthony Foley say opens the area for increased use.
“The shade in summertime and lights allowing for later riding will draw so much more attention here to the skatepark”, says Anthony. “With those additions, a little TLC smoothing out concrete and adding a few more jumps and purpose-made skate ramps for young skaters to progress on like Picton has, this park becomes a real hub for the community.
“You can give skaters a big flat area and a couple of simple obstacles, and we’ll have fun for days, but with Picton getting rid of what was a pretty unskateable half-pipe and putting in one which allows people to progress up, it’s shown that if it’s built, riders will come.
“I moved here 12 years ago from the United States and found a great community of skaters, and the interest is only getting bigger with the younger ones so we’re now looking at getting a skate school going and working with the Youth Trust so it shows the investment is worth it”.
With both Mayor Nadine Taylor and Deputy Mayor David Croad supporting the request for safety precautions and youth-focused projects, Aimee Payne says she’s pleased the Marlborough District Council is supporting a wider range of local passions.
“Council really saw the value in the Blenheim upgrades after the Picton skatepark refurbishment, because investment in our skatepark caters particularly to those kids that don’t fit into those team sports necessarily, as well as the skaters, scooter riders and BMX bikers of all ages,” she says.
“Skating is a creative, physical sport which teaches freedom of expression and resilience, as 90 percent of the time you are falling onto hard surfaces and the rest of it is picking yourself back up.”
Funding for the Blenheim Skatepark upgrades will come from the council’s $1.5m Land Subdivision Reserve, which comes from property development fees.
