Skateboards are to be banned from downtown Napier and most of the city's suburban shopping centres, in a crackdown by the city council.
Any skateboarder found in the inner city or shopping centre after the end of next month will be liable for a $500 fine under a new bylaw
expected to be in place by then.
Scooters and skates could also be outlawed.
The bylaw defines a skateboard as "a wheeled device controlled or propelled by gravity or by the muscular energy of the rider but does not include any bicycle, tricycle, wheelchair, baby or invalid carriage".
Councillor Peter Beckett said it would be peer pressure that brought compliance with the bylaw.
Police were too busy to become involved, and the council was not going to provide skateboard patrols.
The chairman of the council's youth forum, Councillor Dave Pipe, said young people wanted to be consulted on the issue and help establish a code of practice for skateboarders.
The council's planning manager, Alastair Thompson, said a report would go to the council with recommendations for publicising and enforcing the ban, although mayor Alan Dick said it would take three months before it took effect.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
