My Account
Mangawhai Activity Zone (MAZ) chair Colin Gallagher has stepped in to correct earlier reports that it now has all the funding it needs to complete its world-class skate park at Mangawhai.
The suggestion came after Northland Regional Council (NRC) announced last month that it had given MAZ $500,000 from the Regional Sporting Facilities Rate – a charge of $15 per household to bolster sporting facilities.
Mr Gallagher says most of that money has already been spent to create another 661 square metres of skate park – particularly an ever-popular beginners area.
However, two additional critical features of the park – flow bowls and a “street plaza”, to help New Zealand skaters in their quest for gold at next year’s Olympics in Tokyo – have still to be built and require a substantial injection of further cash to complete.
“We are extremely grateful for the money we got from the NRC, who have been wonderful. But the street plaza and flow bowls would require $800,000 more,” Mr Gallagher says.
Flow bowls consist of two interconnected shallow bowls, which permit skateboarders to perform tricks as they skate from one to the other. A street plaza is a variety of obstacles that might be encountered on a typical street.
For the last three years, Mr Gallagher has campaigned to get the Kaipara District Council to release $500,000 from Council’s Reserve Contribution Fund for the flow bowls and street plaza, but so far without success.
In May, Council voted to establish a $300,000 contestable fund using reserve contribution money, which community groups from across Kaipara district could apply for.
Mr Gallagher says it is appropriate MAZ should get the bulk of this money because most of the reserve contribution money has been generated from developments within Mangawhai.
Moreover, he says the skate park remains extremely popular, while other parks the Council has prioritised for funding are under-used.
He says when the fencing was taken down on the recently completed beginners’ area, there were about 50 kids itching to get on to it and give it a try.
A decision on funding allocations from the contestable fund is expected next month.
