Arataki skatepark users say flooding and litter potential safety hazard

Flooding and rubbish buildup at Arataki skatepark create a potential safety risk. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga City Council has erected a security fence around Arataki skatepark following residents' safety concerns about the bowl filling with water.

A regular user, who contacted the Bay of Plenty Times, said the skate bowl regularly flooded due to a blocked drain or the pump system not working.

"My partner recently waded in to try and clear the drain, but he wasn't able to solve the issue as the blockage was obviously further down the line.

"At the time, the water was about 2ft deep and there is a real potential risk of kids slipping in and drowning," the woman said.

On Monday, when a Bay of Plenty Times staff member visited the park, the floodwater in the skate bowl was about half a metre deep and also contained rubbish.

This included four to five shopping trolleys.

A Pāpāmoa mother, who asked not to be named, said local competitive skateboarders and scooter riders used the park, including her teenage son.

She said recently a father of one of the skateboarders brought along his tools to help clear the blocked drain and clear away the rubbish.

The mother blamed some of the other park users for the rubbish buildup and also said their behaviour could be intimidating.

"Over the weekend my son was stood over and he had to hand over his food and drinks."

The mother said some of the regular users of the skatepark had opted not to use it for those reasons.

"It's been an ongoing problem from time to time," she said.

The mother said the standover incident was not reported to the police because her son asked her not to do so as he did not want to create more "trouble'" for himself.

The Arataki Community Centre was approached for comment.

A Tauranga City Council spokeswoman said inspections of the skatepark took place in line with the council's playground inspection round, which were weekly from Labour Weekend until Easter then fortnightly during the winter.

The spokeswoman said the sump in the bottom of the bowl was cleared at each inspection in autumn to remove leaves and other debris that had built up.

"Rubbish is also removed from the bowl and surrounding area during inspections. Arataki is no worse than other reserves in terms of littering.

"Around June 1, a camera was placed through the drainpipe as far as the soak hole and all appeared to be clear," the council spokesperson said.

"Litter is collected on each visit to our parks and reserves. However, the recent extra water in the bowl made this difficult to collect and also created a trap for litter that would otherwise blow around."

Flooding and rubbish buildup at Arataki skatepark create a potential safety risk. Photo / George Novak

She said yesterday

a perimeter fence would be erected around the bowl to make the public aware there is a safety risk.

Earlier in the week, a submersible pump was to be used to drain the surface water.

"We plan to engage a suction truck to drain water as far down the drain as possible, and then reinvestigate with a camera to ensure that there are no blockages."

The council spokeswoman referred the Bay of Plenty Times' questions about reported intimidatory behaviour at the park to the police.

A police spokeswoman said a search of the police system found no recent reports of any recent significant incidents in the area.

Police encouraged anyone who was a victim of threatening behaviour to report the matter to the police, she said.