Removal of Street Furniture
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http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/5575556?view=Eircomnet
“Roche sets aside €1 million for skate parks
From:ireland.com
Wednesday, 18th May, 2005The Government is to fund the building of skateboard parks in a pilot scheme announced by the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche this morning.
Mr Roche said he had set aside €1 million for the project and invited city and county councils tto submit expressions of interest.
“When these are evaluated, a number will be selected for funding,” Mr Roche said.
“I am asking local authorities to think outside the box and bring forward imaginative and innovative projects,” he added.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment told ireland.comthat skateboard facilities were “considerably more expensive” than playgrounds and could range in price from €200,000 to €1/2 million.
He also announced a further €2 million to local authorities for the provision of playgrounds, representing €60,000 for each city and county council. “
Any thoughts
I see that some of the (underused) tennis courts and some of the (neverused) Bowling green in City Council’s Bushy Park has been allocated for the skatepark development. An excellent first step.
Very good for terenure, but i’d love to see some proper city center locations being developed in this way. There was a consultation process (CC) not so long ago asking what types of obsacles etc people want to see. I didn’t see any published findings unfortunately but would be interested to see how street style fared vs a more traditional approach. Has anyone from this forum been actively involved??
1 million will not go very far on these types of projects. I can only hope Mr. Roche is having a laugh. I suspect he must be if he thinks 60k will provide even one playgound for a city council.
“skateboarding is not a crime” says the t-shirt but if the population was filled with middle aged housewives it oviously would be! I used to skate a bit myself and I can see both sides of the argument I have to agree with others that the anti-skating measures look bad and that its better to take on board the fact that skaters will be using the built enviroment and think about it at a design stage like some of our european counterparts. I have to say I thought wolftone park seemed better before the wooden tops went on the seats. I understand that the sight of skaters may put faer into the feable but the city is a place for everyone. There was an interesting piece written by -( http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859734936/202-5808808-3984649 )ian borden I only read an excerpt but it seemed good.
When I was in the states a few years ago the town was a skate free zone and had a large skate park but to be honnest it only worked due to the heavy handedness of the cops! you never know it could be next on McDouall’s list!
Have to note here when the skaters left wolftone park that was when the drunken bums moved in and felt more at home! I know which I think are more seem more exciting and less dangerous !Oh I forgot to mention that there is a place in drumcondra called ramp and rail which is a private indoor skatepark but riding street and looking at the built enviroment in a different way is inherent to skate culture so no matter what it will will never stop. Hence why most skate parks are designed to emulate the best bits (for skaters) of the built enviroment.
The insurance issue is only an issue because the skaters themselves are suing after they fall.
So before we immediately blame the insurance industry, if the skaters signed a waiver (of if indeed waivers had any legal standing) – that wouldn’t necessarily be an issue.
After all, if you’re involved in any physical activity, particularly one like skateboarding where you will fall and regularly, you can’t say you didn’t know the dangers.Iain Borden is a good writer in general. His work on Skateboarding is particularly good. I think the issue of centrality is very important (as Lotts said) in designing spaces for skaters to use. I have some images of the space underneath Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank, which is hugely popular with skaters (aswell as BMXers). I will try to post them at some stage.
The reason I think that centralitiy is important is that, quite simply, skaters like to come to the city centre to meet their friends etc, but also the idea of being able to display their tricks is important too. Many people walking along seem to stop to watch them and appreciate that, as Fergus says “skateboarding is not a crime”. They really liven up the space around the South Bank of the Thames, and without them that area under the Queen Elizabeth Hall would be totally vacant.
Kefu, where did you hear that the skaters sue?
http://www.oregonskateparks.com/Parks/Burnside.htm
heres a link about one of the most famous skateparks in the world it was built entirly by the local skaters themselves under a bridge in portland oregon ( it rains alot there too). its pretty cool. Don’t think we have a space in the city centre with the potential to achieve something simular unless we did as was previously suggested in using a multi-story carparkIs there space under the Loop-Line Bridge on the north side of the river? (I know that is not really realistically ever going to happen)
I think that there are a number of issues to be considered in connection with any proposed Skate park, firstly it must be of a sufficient scale to accomodate different skill levels, the last thing you want are kids and very skilled skaters colliding due to lack of space. Secondly they must be in central locations if the million euro is to be spent it should probably be spent in Dublin and Cork/Galway. Thirdly they must be in locations that are capable of screening from the streets for obvious safety reasons. Does anyone know of any sites that might fit the bill?
What isn’t clear is if the Department will assist the local authorities with the annual insurance costs.
Large scale skate parks are indeed needed, but in many cases all the skaters want is a small place for street skating. Something based on Wolfe Tone Park. Also, I think it is important to mention that no matter how many parks are built skaters will still want to use other public space. It is part of its nature to be adventurous and search out new spots etc. I used to love watching them and the roller-bladers use the coffin benches on South King Street. I think they add a vibrancy to urban life.
Anyway, I just tried to add an image there but it is too big. Does anyone know how to reduce the file size of images?
Thanks
Phil
Thanks for that Fergus. I will give it a go.
Phil
Ennis Town Council adopted new bye laws yesterday which ban cycling, skateboarding and rollerblading from its parks and open spaces.
That’s great lad’s. Well done. :rolleyes:
An article on this in the Indo also notes that Ennis has yet to provide even one cycle lane.Indeed , The visionary decision by Ennis town Council of passing a by-law banning skateboarding , cycling and rollerblading goes a long way to help in the campaign against childhood exercise. A far too high proportion of the youth poulation of the town are involved in sport and exercise and something needs to be done about it. Some of these kids aren’t even fat never mind obese and others have failed to apply themselves to the time honoured traditions of smoking ,drinking and petty crime. Congratulations Ennis town councillors , those €1200 fines will soon have the kids back indoors watching telly and raiding the drinks cabinet. 😮 :confused: 😡
I and a few others have been heavily involved in trying to get quality skateparks built. With only public skatepark in the country and a very poorly designed one at that (waterford) the central location is not a priority at the moment. I’ve travelled to Australia and NZ to skateparks so an extra few miles isn’t gonna bother many skaters. Currently we have to travel to the UK to skate concrete parks.
We regard the design of this first wave of parks to be the most important key to their success. We have in fact discussed the posibility of some of the people behind the Burnside Oregon project (mentioned earlier) coming over to lend their expertise. The style of park we reccomend is one built in concrete incorporating both bowl and street features. Heres an example of one allready built in Dublin. Oh Em thats Dublin OHIO of course.
http://www.dublin.oh.us/quality/skatepark/
@shaggy wrote:
Indeed , The visionary decision by Ennis town Council of passing a by-law banning skateboarding , cycling and rollerblading goes a long way to help in the campaign against childhood exercise. A far too high proportion of the youth poulation of the town are involved in sport and exercise and something needs to be done about it. Some of these kids aren’t even fat never mind obese and others have failed to apply themselves to the time honoured traditions of smoking ,drinking and petty crime. Congratulations Ennis town councillors , those €1200 fines will soon have the kids back indoors watching telly and raiding the drinks cabinet. 😮 :confused: 😡
Yeah Shaggy you are right. They have some cheek attempting to use their brains and try something different to watching TV or playing video-games. Particularly something that involves getting outdoors. I suppose they will all just have to take up free-running instead. 😉
Dublin City plans for a skatepark threatened
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Skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland, yet Ireland is the only country in Europe without proper public skateboarding facilities. As part of their sustainable development strategies many other countries have provided facilities for young people. With a youth population that is proportionally the highest in the EU, our capital city has the sum total of ZERO public skateparks. In this regard, Ireland is not only behind its European neighbours, but also many third world countries, including Peru, Brazil and Thailand.This situation should be changing soon, as Dublin City Council plans for a skatepark in Bushy Park are well advanced, with a full budget in place. Bushy Park is an ideal site for such a facility, being the biggest park in South-Central Dublin and extremely well served by public transport.
HOWEVER – it may not happen.
Incredibly, at a time of grave concern over childhood health and obesity, we now have a situation where certain elected public representatives in the Dublin South Central area, who claim to represent the interests of young people, are campaigning AGAINST the City Council’s plans to provide a skatepark.
Please visit this website and sign the petition http://www.bushyskatepark.com
If you can help e-mail mailto:bushyskatepark@gmail.com@kefu wrote:
The insurance issue is only an issue because the skaters themselves are suing after they fall.
So before we immediately blame the insurance industry, if the skaters signed a waiver (of if indeed waivers had any legal standing) – that wouldn’t necessarily be an issue.
After all, if you’re involved in any physical activity, particularly one like skateboarding where you will fall and regularly, you can’t say you didn’t know the dangers.insurance isn’t an issue, it’s a smokescreen. Football is a physical activity where not only will you fall regularly but also may engage in repeated physical confrontation with others yet there is no problem with insurance there and quite rightly so
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