Park worth the wait: skater

Glen Iris youngster Cody Philipp was 11 when he brought the Bunbury City Council a petition asking for a skatepark to be built in his home suburb.

That was in 2010.

Three years later Cody, now 14 years old, will have his wish granted after the council this week gave a $610,000 skatepark proposal the final tick of approval.

Cody said he petitioned the council because he wanted somewhere safe to skate with his mates.

The keen skater said he was pleased that, after a three-year wait, construction of the skatepark would finally begin.

“Glen Iris is pretty empty for us, I’m just glad it’s happening,” he said.

The park will be developed on a reserve on Vittoria Road and will include seating, shade shelters, barbecues and toilets.

A number of councillors have voiced their strong support for the skatepark as a facility which would give youth an active passtime that would “get them off the computer”.

Cr Sam Morris said the park would be a facility which benefitted the whole Glen Iris community.

“If you think you’re going to have just the skateboarders using that area you are wrong,” Cr Morris said.

“There will be parents supervising their young kids, it’s not just for the teenage kids, it’s the full community.”

The skatepark proposal had attracted significant opposition with some neighbours raising concerns about privacy, noise and anti-social behaviour.

The council has attempted to allay people’s fears by including landscaping and privacy walls as part of the planning approval.

Bunbury police told the council it would have the ability to turn the park’s lights off early if anti-social behaviour occurred.