We have a skate park next door to our beach house on the Coromandel Peninsula. It is not all bad, when we see the children playing there during the day it is a great sight, somewhere for them to have fun. But the problems seem to start after dark. The down side, it is a graffiti magnet, the litter is a big problem even though there are litter bins, usually broken bottles etc. There is even a water fountain there but it is often vandalised. The skate park is only to be used during daylight hours but that is impossible to police. We knew of the skate park next to our property when we bought it and went ahead anyway. If a skate park was to go ahead in Greenhithe it must be in an existing park like Wainoni or Collins, preferabley not visible from the road or exquisite walkways we are blessed with.
Do we know how many children are keen to have the skate park?

im a skater of 3 years..... im 14 and live in greenhithe...but never can skate there......i have to travel long distances to just have a skate at a park in devonport glenfield or henderson.......its either that or reck the greenhithe hall stairs or the schools rails..... skaters have a bad reputation u see.....jus 4 this reason....... not being able to skate due to lack of parks...and turn to the streets and public places to play.....so i dont see the harm in building a skatepark !
the perfect place 4 a skatepark would be behind the playcentre

I'm all for a skate park. It seems many people on these forums associate skating with petty crime - the two things aren't necessarily related. Boredom is a big contributor to the problems. The more outdoor activities we adults can support the better for our children. I'd far rather our kids went somewhere they can work some ramps and get some exercise than have them cruising around bored or having to venture far from home to a suburb that supports their sport.

As for tagging, I say let it rip on the skate park. There's nothing wrong with putting some colour on otherwise grey concrete, and may the best tagger win. Hell we could even run some competitions! The same does NOT go for other public or private property, of course, but the skate park could be fair game.

And lastly, I rate the idea of getting the community involved in building it. What better way to engender respect for a place by the people who use it than get the people who use it to help design and build it?

Chris, how do you propose to explain that tagging on the (publicly owned) skate park is OK, but not OK on the fence next door? It is either an acceptable activity or not. Setting and patrolling clear behavioural boundaries for kids and adolescents is an important part of them developing into great adults. It would be a bit like saying that you shouldn't drink and drive ... unless you promise not to crash in which case it is OK.

Apart from that, I agree