Construction has begun on Tairua's new skatepark. Image / TCDC
Construction has begun on Tairua's new skatepark. Image / TCDC
Tairua’s new skatepark is a go, and this week fencing was erected around the Cory Park Domain site - marking the beginning of construction.
The skatepark has been a long time in the making after opposition by a group known as Preserve Cory Park Domain Inc was dismissed in the High Court.
In a release, Thames Coromandel District Council gave an update on the project’s timeline.
It said some parts of the domain and its facilities would be unavailable while the build took place. The site fencing would go inside the tennis courts, but one court would still be available for playing, except when it too will need to be closed for drainage work, which was planned for mid-October.
Access to the tennis courts would be from the back via Hornsea Rd.
The site fencing would extend to the current location of the rugby posts, which would be removed until the fencing was pulled back at the end of the year within an earth bund that would be built to separate rugby field users from the skatepark.
The council said the site would shut down for the summer on December 8. The target was to have all the retaining walls and pathways to the netball courts and Hornsea Rd completed.
Construction would resume on January 30, 2024 and was expected to be completed by April 26 with the skatepark open for use.
Landscape planting would take place within the planting season, starting in June.
Mayor Len Salt said: “In mid-August 2023 the High Court in Hamilton dismissed the legal challenge from Preserve Cory Park Domain Society to block our council’s project to build a skatepark in Tairua.
“Justice Powell dismissed the claims that the process and public consultation our council and contractors followed to make decisions about a skatepark for Tairua were flawed.
“We are grateful for the court’s expedient hearing of the judicial review.
“This process has validated the process and decision-making to site a skatepark on Cory Park Domain.”
TCDC's design group met with stakeholders to hammer out a design for the new skatepark in Tairua.
The final design plans for Tairua Skatepark were approved by the council at its April 26 meeting, authorising the project team to proceed with procurement and construction.
The council said it had appointed Veros to project manage the second stage of the Tairua Skatepark Project through detailed design and construction phases to completion.
Acid NZ was designing the skatepark.
Stage one involved community consultation on the appetite for, and preferred site of, the skatepark.
“This comprehensive consultation process included site walk-throughs, in-person public meetings, online public meetings and digital surveys,” the council said.
To guide the design of the skatepark, a skatepark design reference group had been set up which included representatives from a range of groups such as skaters, residents who live beside Cory Park, The Protect Cory Park Domain Society, Tairua Sports and Rugby Club, Tairua Recreation Sports Trust, and police.
