Tairua Skatepark: Opening Monday April 15

  • Project typeSports facility
  • Contractor nameVeros Property Services, ACID NZ

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Tairua Skatepark opening date confirmed 

Tairua Skatepark will have an official opening on Monday 15 April.

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Tairua Skatepark early March 2024.jpg The ramps and bowl have been poured with just a few of the flat areas remaining. 

Site furniture is starting to be installed and the final shaping of the acoustic mound is taking place. 

We ask that, although it is starting to look complete, you do not let yourselves into the site and try to skate the fresh concrete.

The concrete still needs to be sealed to avoid it being damaged and there are still a lot of hazards around the construction site. 

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Landscaping will be completed in June 2024 when the weather is suitable for planting. 

See the site fencing plan:

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Legal challenge dismissed

In mid-August 2023 the High Court in Hamilton dismissed the legal challenge from Preserve Cory Park Domain Society to block our Council’s project to build a skatepark in Tairua.

Justice Powell dismissed the claims that the process and public consultation our Council and contractors followed to make decisions about a skatepark for Tairua were flawed.

“We are grateful for the Court’s expedient hearing of the judicial review,” says our Mayor Len Salt.

“This process has validated the process and decision making to site a skatepark on Cory Park Domain.”

Read the judgement here(PDF, 644KB).


The final design plans for Tairua Skatepark were approved by Council at its 26 April 2023 meeting, which also authorised the project team to proceed with procurement and construction.

The plans can be seen in the meeting agenda on our website.

The project team has continued to engage with users of Cory Park Domain – the site of the skatepark – to fine tune any minor design changes needed for health and safety purposes.

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Our Council has appointed Veros to project manage the second stage of the Tairua Skatepark Project through detailed design and construction phases to completion. Acid NZ designed the skatepark.

Stage One involved extensive community consultation on the appetite for, and preferred site of, the Tairua Skatepark. This comprehensive consultation process included site walk-throughs, in-person public meetings, online public meetings and digital surveys.

To guide the design of the skatepark, a Skatepark Design Reference Group was set up. It included representatives from a range of groups such as skaters, residents who live beside Cory Park, The Protect Cory Park Domain Society (PCPDS), Tairua Sports and Rugby Club (TRSC), Tairua Recreation Sports Trust (TRST), and Police.  

Our Council received 1,044 submissions to our formal consultation asking if the Tairua community agreed with Cory Park Domain as the proposed location for a skatepark in Tairua.

Sixty-three people indicated they would like to speak to their submission to our Council at hearings held on 28-29 April 2022.

In summary:

• 92.49 per cent of submitters agreed with Cory Park Domain as the location for the skatepark.
• 7.03 per cent of submitters disagreed with Cory Park Domain as the location for the skatepark.
• 0.48 per cent were neutral or provided no response.

We’d like to thank the Tairua community for their patience and engagement with the consultation process. 

An initial survey in October-November 2021 helped shape the site selection criteria, sites to be shortlisted and skatepark design elements.

A second survey in November-December 2021 was run to understand people’s official preference on the site from the shortlist of Cory Park Domain, Pepe Reserve and Tairua School.

On 8 February 2022 our Council adopted Cory Park Domain as the preferred site for the skatepark.

The final stage was the submission process, held over 14 February to 8 April 2022, on Council’s preferred location of Cory Park Domain. This submission process was held following the special consultative procedure as set out in the Local Government Act. This is the same process we use for consultations on our Long Term Plans and Annual Plans. 

Tairua Skate Park location consultation background information

A site at Cory Park Domain was identified but legal proceedings in 2021 forced a halt to the project. In order to start with a clean slate, the Tairua-Pauanui Community Board agreed at its June 2021 meeting to revoke all previous decisions made in regards to the skate park. 

An out-of-cycle budget of $60,000 funded from the Tairua-Pauanui Community Board’s retained earnings is being used for Veros Property Services, an independent company with expertise in planning, consultation and project management, to lead the work.


We include regular updates on this project in our email newsletter. To receive it, visit tcdc.govt.nz/subscribe

Location

Cory Park, Tairua, Tairua/Pāuanui   View Map

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