Council backflip on skatepark

JAMBEROO residents are hopeful of having a skate park built in the town by the October school holidays after council amended the 2006/7 budget to incorporate a grant of $10,000 towards the facility at last Tuesdays council meeting.

Jamberoo skaters were not the only winner on the night, as council agreed to allocate a further $10,000 to kick start proceedings towards a skate park in North Kiama.

Councils generosity places the 2006/7 budget deficit at over $46,000.

Spokesman for the Jamberoo skate park facility Winton Brooke Smith said he was over the moon with the funding, saying it came as a real shot in the arm for the community after council had initially denied a similar request at last months ago.

When I got home on Tuesday night after the decision I rang the kids who had courageously fronted up the night before and they were ecstatic.

They were speaking in their language using words like cool and sick that I dont understand but they were definitely very pleased.

Mr Brooke Smith said securing council funding now provided opportunities for the community to pursue further grants.

This is the support we needed to be able to go to the Department of Sport and Recreation and try and secure a grant from them, he said.

We hope the fact that we had already raised $10,000 ourselves before we got the council money will put us in good stead for a few of these other grants.

Despite the initial costing of the skate park being as high as $100,000, Mr Brooke Smith is confident Jamberoo can have a high quality facility by mid October.

With volunteer labour and support from local enterprises I am positive we should be able to reduce the amount needed significantly, he said.

Kiama councillor Trevor Fredericks said he felt the Jamberoo community had shown a lot of enthusiasm for the project saying he saw the allocation as a just reward.

Cr Fredericks had lobbied for? funding at last months meeting.

This is not a large sum but it enables the community to move forward and achieve something positive, he said.

Council budgets are going to be very tight for some years so where there is a community group looking to help raise their own funding I think they should be applauded and encouraged.

At last weeks meeting Kiama councillor Ruth Devenney said she was pleased that North Kiama had finally received some encouragement saying the areas need for a skate facility should not be forgotten.