Skate park needs new home

By Kate Taylor

The Ballan Recreation Reserve Masterplan has officially been adopted – but not without first making sure that there will be a skate park in the town.
Having been drafted, displayed, commented on, and reported on, the plan underwent a final significant change before it was approved at the June council meeting.
The plan provides strategic direction for the future development and investment at the reserve over the next 10 years and identifies potential longer term uses of the reserve to serve the community.
But it also identifies a new playground right where the current skate park is located.
“The Ballan Recreation Reserve Parents and Friends Group have recently received funding via the Stronger Communities Programme to supplement their own fundraising initiatives for a project to remove the existing playground and install a new playground at the reserve. The new playground is identified within the master plan to be located on the site of the current skate park and as such needs to be addressed appropriately,” read a report tabled at the meeting.
Discussions about ‘adopting’ versus ‘endorsing’ the plan aside, councillors voted to only approve the plan, including moving the skate park, once a new site has been identified and confirmed.
“A strong theme in the feedback on the draft master plan is the desire to retain the skate park facilities for young people to access in Ballan. The feedback suggests a strategy for replacement of the skate park facilities within Ballan should be developed before it is moved,” read the report.
Council will now look at whether components of the existing skate park can be moved to a new location.
A working group will also be established, and a community consultation plan developed and implemented, to identify potential location and design options for skate park facilities within Ballan.