Council seeks your input on the possibility of creating a wheel park in our City.
What is a wheel park?
To be more inclusive of all youth, Council is exploring an opportunity for a wheel park. A wheel park is a purpose built recreational environment made for skateboards, scooters, rollerblades or bikes (usually BMX bikes). These recreational facilities encourage youth to be physically active, improve youth mental health and improves city vibrancy.
An Australian study* shows that people aged under 18 made up 78.2 per cent of users, while 11–15 year olds made up 48.3 per cent of users of wheel parks.
Why are we exploring this?
Seventeen per cent of the City of Burnside’s residents are aged 5-17 years old*. By 2026, the largest age group in the City is likely to be 15-19 year olds*.
Council conducts a yearly community survey and the results are fully representative of our community’s opinions. In the 2017 survey*, Council asked the community if services for youth were important. Seventy three per cent of our community believe that having services for youth is important.
Of this 73 per cent, 38 per cent (unprompted) said that these services should be in the form of a ‘wheel park’, and 18 per cent said that more recreation facilities for youth are needed in our City.
Following a petition to Council seeking a wheel park for Constable Hyde Memorial Garden, Council resolved to explore the need for a wheel park in Burnside, and to work with wheel park groups to explore suitable locations for a wheel park in the City.
To continue reading and to have your say, please visit by Friday 14 June 2019.
