New skatepark in wrong place, say Harbours
Wednesday 11th March 2009, 2:58PM GMT.
HARBOURS say that the £125,000 skatepark on the New North Quay is causing problems and is in the wrong place – less than three months after it opened.
Assistant Economic Development Minister Paul Routier told the States yesterday that the decision to put the park there, which he supported at the time, was wrong and might have to be reviewed on safety grounds. He added that there was no evidence of a link between skateboarders and the vandalism to 54 boats at the Harbour over the weekend.
However, the head of the Channel Island Skateboarding Association, Jake Hipwell, says that the skatepark is the end product of six years of campaigning to provide a venue for skaters and that the problems have been ‘blown out of all proportion’. The skatepark opened on 12 December. The Waterfront Enterprise Board put up £125,000 to build it and it is run by Education. But the Harbours department say that it costs them £68,000 in lost revenue from parking spaces.
Responding to a question from Deputy Phil Rondel during States question time, Senator Routier said: ‘The department and I are really concerned about what is happening at the New North Quay at present. The department have had conversations with the police and with other departments and there is a major problem emerging.’
Pictured: The skate park on the New North Quay
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Why not move it back to Fort Regent?
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Yup, sounds about right, another fine mess.
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Skate park in the middle of a working port? Who dreamed that up?
Why not sort out the needs of commercial shipping with the proposed move to La Collette and then, and only then, rezone the port as a skate park? Every time we seem to hit a snag, bid or small, it seems to gravitate to our embattled Transport Minister? A problem? You bet!
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Yes Stanley!!
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sounds like someone is more interested in parking income than the kids on this island which is about right
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Come on, give our youngsters a break and don’t tar them all with the same brush. Shutting the park will push skaters back onto the streets and we will be back to square one. Inept politicians show us time and time again that they have no vision.
Six years of planning and campaigning and at no point did one of our leaders consider putting a youth focused activity area in a more suitable location?
The mind boggles, it really does.
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Everyone said it was in the wrong place. Those in power didn’t listen as usual. SNAFU
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So the states have wasted more money, did they not research where to put this skate park & any safety aspect in the first place, again though, nobody wants this in their back garden, yet they want kids & somewhere for them to play.
May be its not in the right place, but there is no one for them to disturb, What is more important £68k to keep our children happy, outdoors and keeping themselves fitter, or some car park for the cars to park in that the States don’t want us to drive in the first place.
Kids make noise, and hang around, as we all did when we were younger and as still do adults, except it is acceptable for adults to make noise, damage property, swear etc. Children learn by example, yet with the headlines today “States in shambles”, what an example to show them and this is supposed to be by the government that lead us!!
What proof does the Harbours department & Assistant Economic Development Minister Paul Routier have that it is the users of the skate park that are causing all these problems. Just as much noise if not more, litter and damage is made by the drunken behaviour of those frequenting the bars and clubs at the water front. I have seen this first hand.
Again what an example to show the youth of today.
The youth have something they want & use. The majority that use the skate Park will not tolerate the mindless actions of the minority and the majority will police these themselves.
Children are an easy target when something goes wrong; it must be them as grownups wouldn’t do it?
I support Jake Hipwell, not that I know him at all, in his plight.
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This would be a kick in the teeth for all those dedicated skateboarders and others that finally made the skate park a reality after years of trying.
And to compare the value of kids having something positive to do with the revenue ‘lost’ from potential car parking charges is insulting and crass. £68,000 a year represents good value in Jersey. Look at the amount of subsidy for the Waterfront pool…
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Perhaps I’ve missed something, but it’s not clear what this major emerging problem is that Sen. Routier is really concerned about. Can anyone enlighten me?
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fort regent swimming pool is empty..skate boaders can use the pool and also the chairs in the spectators gallery like they use the pavements in town if they treat it like the olf colleage for girls it will be demolished at no cost to the states within a year
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Putting a skateboard park in the harbour area was a bad recipe. How do these things get started!
Use of the old Fort Regent Pool sounds interesting, but will there not be added costs associated with it, getting it ready, will need staff to supervise its use during times it is open as its within a building, sounds rather expensive.
Someone said the all the kids should not be tarred with the same brush, they are right, you will always get a few bad apples.
But this park needs to be situated well away from other things. How about using part of the old fairground area at Fort Regent, that is used for free staff parking?
Would this not be a better use of the area at the fort?
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James, James, James. (12) Brilliant, so brilliant. Cheaper too, no doubt.
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Although it is nice to see that people care, please get it out of your minds that the Fort Regent Pool is a suitable venue for a Skate Park. It is not, and if it had been it would have been looked at before. Simple!
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