Flaxmere Skate Park | Consultations

New skate park for Flaxmere

Flaxmere Park has been the community’s preferred site for a new skate facility for 10 years. With funding now available, it’s time to build.

The Swansea/Henderson Rd corner of Flaxmere Park is identified in the Reserve Management Plan (2011) as the location of the new skate plaza. Given our consultation with the community happened so long ago, we want to check we are not missing a better option.

The reasons for choosing the preferred site include:

It’s highly visible and safe: It is a very open site on the corner of a busy area; it’s been proven that very public sites encourage good behaviour
The playground is nearby: It is near Flaxmere’s premier playground so families with children at different ages and stages can take them to one area with multiple activities
It’s close to toilets, parking and other facilities: There are toilets, litter bins and a barbecue; there is ample parking and there are shops nearby.

For more information check out our FAQs below.

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Feedback closes 16 July 2021

FAQs

Why are we getting a new skate plaza in Flaxmere?

The community has a long-held desire for a modern skate facility for its children and teens. It is included in the Flaxmere Park Reserve Management Plan. Council has set aside money to build this new skate facility, to replace the skate bowl in the town centre, as part of a planned Flaxmere town centre upgrade.

Why now?

We’re finalising plans for the Flaxmere town centre upgrade. These include removing the existing skate bowl to enable more shops, more houses and better access for the Flaxmere community. The plans also enable funding to be released for a brand new skate plaza in Flaxmere.

Why the Henderson/Swansea roads corner of Flaxmere Park?

It’s highly visible and safe: It is the preferred site for public safety reasons. It is best practice to locate skate facilities at busy, public sites, to help deter anti-social behaviour.
Toilets, parking and other facilities are nearby: This area is already highly used by our Flaxmere families, and having many activities in one place means that children of all ages and play stages can be catered for in the same general area at the same time. The site has public toilets close by, and is near shops. It has ample parking and a public barbecue for families.
RMP consultation highlighted it was preferred: When we originally consulted with Flaxmere residents over where the new skate plaza should be located, this was the preferred site. Given that consultation was 10 years ago, we want to check to make sure we are not missing any better option.

What size will it be?

The skate plaza will be a similar size to the plaza that was most recently built at the Village Green in Havelock North.

How will it be designed?

We are working closely with our children and youth, through the schools in Flaxmere. The five schools have each nominated two students with an interest in skateboarding and/or scootering to gather information from the fellow students to provide to Council’s designer.

Who is the designer?

We’ve engaged Rich Smith, from Rich Landscapes, to design the skate plaza and he is very excited to be working directly with Flaxmere kids on this project. Rich, who is a skater, designed the Village Green skate plaza and our district’s premier skating facility, William Nelson Skate Park.