Half-pipe a great start but still a way to go, say Howick skaters

Skateboarders in East Auckland will get a much-needed new half-pipe, but some say it is still not enough given the demand in the area.

The local skate club, East Skate Club (ESC), has received a grant from the Howick Local Board to build the half-pipe.

Club coordinator Aaron Martin said the news was great but Howick was one of the biggest local-board areas in the country. “Yet we have the least amount of skate areas.”

The closest skateparks to the Howick area are in Lloyd Elsmore, Flat Bush and downtown Auckland.

“All of those local kids are suffering because they can’t just skate, scoot or roll up the road to a local skatepark.

“They have to get their parents to take them because the closest skateparks are too far away,” he said.

Due to lack of progress, East Skate Club members took renovations of existing facilities into their own hands, installing temporary ramps and features at Lloyd Elsmore Skate Park.

These were removed by Auckland Council because they did not meet health and safety standards.

Howick Local Board chairperson Adele White said: “If you are going to have something in an Auckland park it needs to be 100 per cent compliant, but there were one or two things we were not sure about so the council removed the equipment.”

Local skater Eric Goodger said more needed to be done, and that the council wasn’t putting enough effort into improving existing skate areas.

“It’s really disappointing that for an area that is considered to have a high economic wealth and high social status, there aren’t any good skateparks around here,” he says.

“It’s obvious that the only skatepark, Lloyd Elsmore, wasn’t designed by skaters. The ground is rough, and the features there aren’t fun.”

Eric said the skatepark had been much more popular when the temporary structures were in place but was now almost always empty.

“It’s dead now. There are still a few kids skating there, but not as many as when [ESC] was taking care of the place,” he says.

While upgrades have taken a while, the club is grateful that plans are now beginning to take shape, says Martin.

Construction on the new ramp is expected to start in April.