Rotorua Lakes Council’s Long Term Plan hearings begin with skatepark advocates

Sulphur City Steam Rollers co-founder Layla Robinson wants Rotorua's council to go ahead with plans for a new multi-sport skatepark. Photo / Laura Smith

Roller skating saved Layla Robinson’s life – “literally”.

Robinson - one of New Zealand’s top roller derby athletes - on Tuesday told Rotorua councillors hearing Long Term Plan (LTP) submissions how the sport allowed her to conquer long-running issues with drugs and alcohol.

She urged the council to move ahead with a new multi-sport skatepark at Kuirau Park and outlined how her life took a dark turn when she had to give up the sport.

The proposed skatepark could be removed from council plans for the next 10 years as it looked to cut spending.

Robinson told councillors she began skating about 30 years ago – racing against boys and socialising at various Rotorua skating rinks.

“It was a really solid community. It was the most important thing to me as a teenager.”

Sulphur City Steam Rollers co-founder Layla Robinson addresses the council on Tuesday. Photo / Laura Smith

“As a teenager, there was nothing else in our city that appealed to me and I kind of see that today as well.”

However, over time the rinks closed or were demolished and without her sport of choice, Robinson “went off the rails”.

Years of substance abuse and mental health issues followed, and while she did not wholly blame the closure of the skating rinks for her struggles, she believed having a place to practice would have helped keep her circle of friends and a more positive outlook.

A decade passed before she laced up her skates again.

Layla Robinson has taught hundreds of people how to skate. Photo / Stephen Parker

“Finding skating again, literally saved my life,” she told councillors.

She has now taught hundreds of people how to skate on a flat track and is currently preparing to represent New Zealand at the Roller Derby World Cup in Austria next year.

She said there was nowhere for the roller or artistic skating community to train, bar a corner of the Kmart carpark on Amohau St.

Robinson is a trustee of the Rotorua Action Sports Charitable Trust, which formed last year to raise funding for the $2.5 million skatepark project.

Elizabeth Sturt stands in front of Rotorua Lakes Council chambers with a picture of her late father and former councillor, Charles Sturt. Photo / Laura Smith

Plea for council to fulfil late father’s dream

Elizabeth Sturt also made a powerful submission for the council to support her late father’s dream for a new multi-sport skatepark.

Charles Sturt, a councillor for 33 years, resigned in 2019 after he was diagnosed with cancer and died the following year. He advocated strongly for a new multi-sport skatepark.

His voice filled the council chambers once more as she played an audio clip of him explaining his support for the project.

“It’s simply because you’ve got to listen to the community … the young people came before us four years ago and said we need a top-mark skatepark,” he said in the recording.

“This was his dream for the community. Make it happen,” his daughter said through tears.

“Think of our youth.”

She echoed previous comments on the “dangerous” existing skatepark and noted the benefits of exercise. People drove an hour away to “enjoy a quality skatepark”.

The city’s existing skate parks have previously been described as sunken concrete “death traps”, with concrete rougher than an “industrial cheese grater”.

“We need a safe place that is free for our kids.”

Elizabeth Sturt played an audio clip of her late father, former councillor Charles Sturt, in Rotorua Lakes Council chambers. Photo / Laura Smith

What Rotorua’s council and mayor have said

In a previous response to Local Democracy Reporting, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said there were six skate parks in the city – and the council had to spend prudently.

“The total cost of the project has previously been expected to cost $2.5m, with council offering to cover $750,000 of this, and unfortunately the additional external funding required to build the skate park has not yet been raised.

“I agree it’s been a very long time since this was requested and our council, like many people in our community, are restricted in what we can spend.”

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell at a Long Term Plan public meeting. Photo / Laura Smith

Tapsell said they had focused on essential services first, but a final decision would not be made until all feedback was received.

The cost for site pre-loading – $94,000 – was all it had spent on the project. If the project was excluded from the finalised plan, the site would remain as it was.

Some features were removed due to deterioration over several years at Sheaf Park skatepark.

More than 300 people and groups have indicated they wish to speak to their Long-term Plan 2024-2034 submissions.

Once approved, the plan would be reviewed in three years. Councillors will make a decision in June.

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist for five years.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.