Tairua skatepark soon a reality after court decision

The Thames-Coromandel District Council's design group met with stakeholders to hammer out a design for the new skatepark in Tairua.

The development of a long-awaited skatepark in the coastal community of Tairua is going ahead after a judicial review mounted by opposition group Preserve Cory Park Domain Inc was dismissed in the High Court.

Objections to the skatepark being built in the Cory Park Domain included the impact of increased noise pollution, sanitation issues and concerns over potential anti-social behaviour.

The park’s location received 92.49 per cent support from 1044 submitters responding to a Tairua Skatepark Multi-criteria analysis and Shortlisting Report in November 2021, in which the Thames-Coromandel District Council asked the public their thoughts on the ideal location after Cory Park Domain was selected following the investigation of other sites.

Of the submitters, 7.03 per cent disagreed with Cory Park Domain as the location for the skatepark, and 0.48 per cent were neutral or provided no response.

The unsuccessful judicial review came after an ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge by Preserve Cory Park Domain Inc.

The Thames-Coromandel District Council officially selected the site in May this year.

In coming to his decision, Justice Grant Powell noted: “For some 30 years there has been agreement that Tairua needs a skatepark. Despite this apparent consensus, it is [sic] not yet been built. The appropriate site remains a matter of considerable contention, and in particular, whether it should be located within the Cory Park Recreation Reserve.

“An initial application for resource consent to put the skatepark in Cory Park was declined by an independent commissioner in 2002. The applicant in the present proceedings, Preserve Cory Park Domain Incorporated, was incorporated in 2007 for the express purpose of opposing a skatepark facility in Cory Park.

“The society (Preserve Cory Park Domain Inc) remains implacably opposed to a skatepark being located on Cory Park. Its position is that it is not opposed to a skatepark in Tairua, but that Cory Park is unsuitable and that the Pepe Reserve would be a better location.”

Cory Park Domain has been chosen as the site for the Tairua Skatepark. Photo / Talia Parker

After re-incorporation in 2007, Preserve Cory Park Inc then questioned three of the decisions made by the council in the course of once more selecting Cory Park over Pepe Reserve.

A change to the district plan in 2016 meant resource consent was no longer required for the Cory Park site, renewing public interest in the site as a skatepark. The new project was again opposed by Preserve Cory Park Domain Inc, which was re-incorporated in October 2020, “in time to oppose a new initiative by the council, through the local community board, to locate a skatepark at Cory Park,” mentioned Justice Powell.

Consultants Veros were then engaged by the Thames-Coromandel District Council. Veros provided a 257-page report that included a recommendation to inform the community of the need to strike a balance in providing a long-awaited facility in a location that suited the majority but also met numerous other requirements, both practical for skateboarding and meeting criteria around zoning.

In June 2021 the community board revoked its decision to proceed with the skatepark at Cory Park. But the preferred site was then ratified by the council.

In his judgement, Justice Powell noted: “The society’s application for judicial review against the council against the first, second and third challenged decisions is dismissed.”

Chair of the Tairua Sport and Recreation Trust, Jacqui Gage-Brown, was pleased with the dismissal and said: “It’s been a battle for the community for 30 years.”

The concept design for Tairua's new skatepark. Image / Thames-Coromandel District Council

Gage-Brown said she believed the genesis of the opposition to the park lay in outdated perceptions of skaters as unruly miscreants, pointing out that skateboarding was “now an Olympic sport”.

Also revealed by Gage-Brown was the revision of the consent process necessitated the council to engage external consultants, which when coupled with increased building costs ballooned the project’s price from $450,000 to $1.1 million.

“It’s unfortunate we had to go through this and the council had to spend the money that could have been put towards other initiatives,” Gage-Brown said.

She said it seemed the majority of Tairua was happy with the decision. “The town is rapt, we’ve had around 600 [Facebook] likes, which is huge for a town of just over 1500 people,” Gage-Brown said.

A spokesperson from the Thames-Coromandel District Council said there was not yet a date set for construction to begin, saying only that “contractors are being finalised.”

Comment was sought from Protect Cory Park Domain Society Inc, but had not been received by publication time.