New park gets skaters’ approval

Toby Brockelbank relishes Cambridge skatepark’s new features at its official opening on Friday afternoon.

Skies were blue and music was pumping in Dominion Ave last month.

as skaters, BMXers and scooter riders gathered to celebrate the official opening of Cambridge’s new skatepark.

“I love it,” said landscape designer Hannah Torrance, 27, who has been skating in Cambridge for 10 years.

“The old park was super old and outdated so it’s like a dream come true having something like this. I think it’s just so major to have something in small Cambridge that’s this size and this good.”

Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan and deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk were at the 3pm-6pm launch as charity organisation Blue Light handed out free sausages and food trucks sold ice cream and other treats.

Waipā District Council prioritised upgrades to Cambridge’s existing skatepark during its 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan process. It formed a kaitiaki group of skaters who made submissions to the plan and provided input into the skate park’s design.

Seventeen-year-old Cambridge High School student Toby Brockelbank, who was at Friday’s launch, was one of them.

“Me and some friends who are also here, Max and Richard, we went to the council… we were talking about how it would change our lives for the park to get done,” he said.

“The old one was fun if you were a local, if you knew how to use it. But if anyone came from out of town it was one of those parks you had to know it like the back of your hand because it had some dodgy spots. It was nowhere near as fun as this.”

Hannah Torrance loves the new park.

Hamilton based company Acid NZ developed a draft skatepark concept plan and met users onsite in December 2021 for input and feedback. Around 90 people responded to the plan and council further consulted with the public on the designs in April 2022.

Construction on the $800,000 project began in August 2022 and finished last month.

The skatepark, which caters to all ability levels, partially opened in mid-December. Since then, a range of additional features have been completed, including a three-foot quarter pipe, wedge to flat bar, wedge to pole jam, flat rails and a rainbow quarter pipe with a channel gap.

Brockelbank was impressed with the end result, saying it was already drawing skaters from out of town.

“That dude’s from Putāruru, that skater over there’s from Melville and they’re all coming in because it’s such a good park,” he said. “I haven’t been to the new Te A one, but to me this is better than Melville and better than Tamahere. I’d say it’s equal with Nawton. They’d be my favourites in the area.”

Waipā Community Services manager Brad Ward praised Antony Leggett and his Acid NZ team for working through “some horrific weather this summer” to get the skatepark completed on time.

“It’s awesome to see the fruits of the planning and the hard work come to fruition,” he said.

With new Te Awamutu and Cambridge skateparks now open, and Pirongia and Kihikihi’s in the pipeline, Waipā now had “a selection of really awesome skateparks you can go to with a bit of a difference”.

“Having a bit of a network of skateparks, not only in Waipā but in the wider Waikato area, creates a bit of a skater’s hub,” he said.