Heidi Kraak
Latrobe City Council will investigate location options for a new skate park and youth precinct for Traralgon once funding for the project is secured.
Latrobe City mayor Darrell White will write to the state government and the Latrobe Valley Authority to request a contribution of $75,000 towards a feasibility study for the youth precinct in Traralgon and council will consider allocating $25,000 from the unallocated cash surplus reserve.
It comes after a petition calling for a new skate park for the town gained more than 1650 signatures following concerns about the dangers presented by the isolated location and lack of amenities of the existing park.
According to a council report, the head petitioner’s vision of a new skate park would be “a more open community space which would allow for a family youth precinct” and would include a skate park that catered for differing abilities, lighting to allow more use of the facility year-round, toilets, drinking fountains, a barbecue area, sheltered seating, a playground and a half basketball court.
While all councillors voted in favour of the requesting additional funding for the skate park and precinct, Cr Brad Law said it was “embarrassing” that council should ask so much of the state government for the feasibility study and location determination.
“I just think that is an obscene amount of money [to determine] where to locate a skate park in Traralgon,” he said.
“We probably only have three spots. We as a council should be making this decision.
“I don’t believe we should be asking for $75,000 to be seeing where it should go.”
Cr Sharon Gibson questioned if council staff could do the work to determine an appropriate location for the park, however, Latrobe City Council chief executive Gary Van Driel said he would have to take the question on notice.
“Given the significant work load that we have on at the moment, we would have to take that on notice,” he said.
“There is a fair bit of work tied up with that. We have assigned through the business plans, various actions to staff, seeing whether we can accommodate that additional task.”
Cr Dale Harriman, who has been working closely with the petitioners, said the petitioners had some council-owned sites in mind.
“It may seem like a lot to put forward, but you have to look accessibility to sewerage and water lines,” he said.
“The group has done a lot more than ask council to do it.”
