Tea Gardens Skate Park in need of kids-oriented overhaul Myall Coast Myall Coast by News Of The Area - Modern Media - May 9, 2023May 9, 2023 Desolate concrete skate ramps are the perfect canvas for local kids’ appropriate art works. BEAUTIFICATION is in the hands of the children at the Tea Gardens Skate Park along the Myall Way. The weather-beaten blocks of featureless concrete that are the Skate Park’s ramps and jumps greet motorists at the gateway to Tea Gardens, and they need some attention. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Installed over a decade ago in pre-fabricated sections, the Skate Park has begun to resemble a set-piece from a post-apocalyptic drama. Such bland and solid vertical surfaces are magnets for vandalism, often the toil of graffiti artists struggling to find a proper outlet for their artistic inclinations. The Hawks Nest Tea Gardens Progress Association (HNTGPA) seeks to remedy the situation, announcing a ‘Skate Park Redesign Competition’. “Children and young people under eighteen years of age are invited to submit their ideas for redesigning the Tea Gardens Skate Park,” the HNTGPA’s Secretary told NOTA. “First Prize is a $50 Gift Voucher and Second Prize is a $25 Gift Voucher, plus, the kids’ ideas will help to really improve the Skate Park.” Jeanette Hart, head of the Myall River Art Walk group, told NOTA, “This competition is about kids having ownership in their community, and will give them pride in the facility, and hopefully stop the continuing vandalism.” The winning children’s design will be adapted to the bare concrete sides of the ramps, as well as around the nearby toilet block. “I’d also like to engage some of the graffiti people more constructively, show them that they can express themselves and their artform in legal and appropriate ways,” Ms Hart added. The HNTGPA intends to segue the competition into “a grant application to lobby MidCoast Council for an upgrade, including resurfacing the lonely grass netball court with a multi-purpose court, marked with lines for basketball, soccer and other sports, too”. Surrounded by the pines of plantations forgotten to time, the area is actually a nice little spot to sit, or engage in recreation, despite being located on the extreme edge of town. By Thomas O’KEEFE The lonely, featureless grass netball court can be repurposed for all kinds of active sports.
