26 May 2011

A walk through the new Belconnen Skatepark

| johnboy
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Youtube brings us a walk around the new Belconnen Skatepark which is nearing completion (promised in the next couple of months).

Built with stimulus money it will be the biggest skatepark in Australia and a watch of the video certainly impresses with the scale of the works.

Film & edit: Rob Crawford
Photo: David Pang
Thanks: Skateboard.com.au, Luke Brown, Canberra Skateboarding Association, Convic, Conrete Skateparks

belconnen skate park

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NIce video english rob.

I noticed this morning that official signage has been affixed to a retaining wall on site. It reads: “Belco Skate Park” – apparently getting approval for “Belco Sk8 Prk – 2617 rprznt” was a bit of a stretch?

Given this casual approach, surely a rebranding of the southside facility as “Tuggers Skate Park” is appropriate?

colourful sydney racing identity12:17 pm 14 Jun 11

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Captain RAAF said :

Say what you like about how safe skate parks are but I’ll put a carton of crownies up if we don’t get at least a couple of incidents at the Belco one that get a mention here in the next 12 months.

I reckon we will read of assaults/rapes/sexual misconduct/bastradisation in the ADF first.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/14/3243317.htm?section=justin

Some quick googling has lead me to believe that assaults, robberies and the like occur less at the Belcompton skate board riding facility then they do at other places and times, such as Summernats, Charnwood, Catholic Churches or the Monaro Highway.

Which fits with my memories of it in the mid-nineties when I attended Canberra High and Lake Ginninderra College.

I can’t see why anyone would suspect upgrading it would increase crime rates? That seems counter intuitive? Except possibly in the case of graffitti, since there will be lots of nice clean cement just screaming for some really lame tags no one can read.

Captain RAAF said :

LSWCHP said :

Say what you like about how safe skate parks are but I’ll put a carton of crownies up if we don’t get at least a couple of incidents at the Belco one that get a mention here in the next 12 months.

Does this mean it shouldn’t be built? How many incidents have occured around the dimly lit lake, or at the lighthouse bar, around the uni accomodation, between the lighthouse bar and UC?

I don’t think this is going to make good kids turn bad. As someone who spent much of my teenage years on a skateboard in Belconnen I can tell you most of the negative characters had nothing to do with the skaters, it had more to do with the bum-bag wearing fully-sick dudes wearing Kappa pants coming down from the mall.

Believe it or not, most people who go to the skatepark go to skate.

colourful sydney racing identity10:19 am 27 May 11

Pommy bastard said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Interesting that you look forward to stories about stabbings and rape.

“I look forward to”, is a well known colloquialism or cliché, expressing, with a touch of irony or ennui, an expectation of something adverse happening in the event described or referred to.

Just so you don’t get caught out, embarrassingly, again.

Yes, I am aware of that *sigh*

Holierthanthou10:04 am 27 May 11

Fastest kid she aint!

Ha, Little Miss HolierThanThou is! Thing is she doesn’t need to be seeing as she is dead hard, not that any would dare try anything such is her fearsome rep. And she used to win kid pageants and she can carve gnarly skateboard things.

Then she takes after her progenitors. And the number of of weet-bix she has for breakfast!

Captain RAAF9:43 am 27 May 11

BenMac said :

Captain RAAF said :

My 13 yo daughter tells me it’s ok to walk 3 km from school in the dark, sorry love, aint gonna happen. I could do it when I was that age because I was the fastest kid in a 10 mile radius.

and what would you have done RAAF if your parents had said “sorry love, aint gonna happen”.

Maybe she is the fastest kid in a 10km radius, but because she’s a girl, you’re not interested.

Fastest kid she aint! So it’s a no brainer.

As for my parents, they knew enough not to worry about me. I have a 15 yo son and the same rules apply to him, couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag, has too much of his mother in him…..might be a good thing.

BenMac said :

Captain RAAF said :

My 13 yo daughter tells me it’s ok to walk 3 km from school in the dark, sorry love, aint gonna happen. I could do it when I was that age because I was the fastest kid in a 10 mile radius.

and what would you have done RAAF if your parents had said “sorry love, aint gonna happen”.

Maybe she is the fastest kid in a 10km radius, but because she’s a girl, you’re not interested.

But surely you don’t want her cotton wool to get dirty!

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Captain RAAF said :

Say what you like about how safe skate parks are but I’ll put a carton of crownies up if we don’t get at least a couple of incidents at the Belco one that get a mention here in the next 12 months.

I reckon we will read of assaults/rapes/sexual misconduct/bastradisation in the ADF first.

Only if they’re too incompetent to cover it up properly.

Pommy bastard9:05 am 27 May 11

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Interesting that you look forward to stories about stabbings and rape.

“I look forward to”, is a well known colloquialism or cliché, expressing, with a touch of irony or ennui, an expectation of something adverse happening in the event described or referred to.

Just so you don’t get caught out, embarrassingly, again.

Captain RAAF said :

My 13 yo daughter tells me it’s ok to walk 3 km from school in the dark, sorry love, aint gonna happen. I could do it when I was that age because I was the fastest kid in a 10 mile radius.

and what would you have done RAAF if your parents had said “sorry love, aint gonna happen”.

Maybe she is the fastest kid in a 10km radius, but because she’s a girl, you’re not interested.

colourful sydney racing identity8:32 am 27 May 11

Captain RAAF said :

Say what you like about how safe skate parks are but I’ll put a carton of crownies up if we don’t get at least a couple of incidents at the Belco one that get a mention here in the next 12 months.

I reckon we will read of assaults/rapes/sexual misconduct/bastradisation in the ADF first.

Captain RAAF8:09 am 27 May 11

LSWCHP said :

I took my kids to a skatepark in Gungahlin, and when we arrived we found a young bloke lying trembling on the deck in shock with several of his teeth scattered around him. It wasn’t pretty and his useless dickhead mates were standing around clueless looking at him. Ambulance time.

About 6 months later my boys persuaded my to let them go to the skatepark by the lake, and they were too cool to want the old man around so they persuaded me to stand a long way off. This just meant that in the autumn of my life I had to make a bolt so that I could arrive in time to sort out a couple of bogan hoods who were threatening them .

No more skateparks for my crew right now.

Kid’s don’t don’t know sh/t, mate! My 13 yo daughter tells me it’s ok to walk 3 km from school in the dark, sorry love, aint gonna happen. I could do it when I was that age because I was the fastest kid in a 10 mile radius.

Say what you like about how safe skate parks are but I’ll put a carton of crownies up if we don’t get at least a couple of incidents at the Belco one that get a mention here in the next 12 months.

It really is funny how people’s minds wont allow them to believe that as younger knob’s grow up it allow’s the younger people to grow up, take their place and do something positive.

The Belco skate park has always been great, close to a main road so not much happens at any time of the day, of course there are the few that ruin it for the most, but not so much these days.

The people you will find at skate parks are people who want to be down there skating, riding or blading.

I think the only one I’d worry about going to is Civic one, it look’s trash, graffiti every where and doesn’t have a nice feel.

Tuggers one is excellent, always got a good group of people down there exercising and having fun, so the littler groups of drinkers and what not don’t normally go there.

The Belco one will be the same, I can’t remember that much graffiti there compared to how often they cleaned the joint up.

Most of the people on this site want all the kids to be out doing something that isn’t hanging out in area’s where they’d go, so the government gives the kids an area to go and all you get is negative comments like, lets smash up the place because on of the group of hundreds did that one time, or can’t wait for the rape stories, then some random complain about bogans, after a kid hurt themselves skate boarding….

If there was a better skate facility in civic, the skaters would use that, don’t start with the whole, they have one use that, they obviously don’t like it, it’s not in a safe place, and it isn’t the best area to hang around.

I took my kids to a skatepark in Gungahlin, and when we arrived we found a young bloke lying trembling on the deck in shock with several of his teeth scattered around him. It wasn’t pretty and his useless dickhead mates were standing around clueless looking at him. Ambulance time.

About 6 months later my boys persuaded my to let them go to the skatepark by the lake, and they were too cool to want the old man around so they persuaded me to stand a long way off. This just meant that in the autumn of my life I had to make a bolt so that I could arrive in time to sort out a couple of bogan hoods who were threatening them .

No more skateparks for my crew right now.

I hope an artist goes down there with a sledgehammer and fu*ks the place up, as pay back for what some skaters have done to various public artworks in town.

bailes23 said :

Captain RAAF said :

I look forward to the stabby/assault/rape/graffiti/criminal damage stories there in the next few months!

How many stabbings and rapes do you know of that happened at the Belconnen skate park?
This place has been open for 20 odd years and I can’t remember any major incidents occuring there.

I personally think this is great. Much better than spending money on more public art! It also encourages young people to go out and be active!

It also encourages us older skaters as well. Can’t wait to try it out.

Holden Caulfield2:38 pm 26 May 11

p1 said :

I actually think the bit of ramp in the pic in the original story is more artistic looking then some of the ‘art’ around town.

For added bonus, it has a bit of an owlish rise, as well.

Stevian said :

A big hole. What a triumph of modern engineering

If by modern you mean late ’80s when it was built, then yes.

bailes23 said :

Much better than spending money on more public art! It also encourages young people to go out and be active!

I actually think the bit of ramp in the pic in the original story is more artistic looking then some of the ‘art’ around town.

bailes23 said :

Captain RAAF said :

I look forward to the stabby/assault/rape/graffiti/criminal damage stories there in the next few months!

How many stabbings and rapes do you know of that happened at the Belconnen skate park?
This place has been open for 20 odd years and I can’t remember any major incidents occuring there.

I personally think this is great. Much better than spending money on more public art! It also encourages young people to go out and be active!

Isn’t that where most of the underage drinkers congregate?. I suppose there is no assault or rape because they are paralytically drunk

A big hole. What a triumph of modern engineering

Captain RAAF said :

I look forward to the stabby/assault/rape/graffiti/criminal damage stories there in the next few months!

How many stabbings and rapes do you know of that happened at the Belconnen skate park?
This place has been open for 20 odd years and I can’t remember any major incidents occuring there.

I personally think this is great. Much better than spending money on more public art! It also encourages young people to go out and be active!

colourful sydney racing identity11:51 am 26 May 11

Captain RAAF said :

I look forward to the stabby/assault/rape/graffiti/criminal damage stories there in the next few months!

Interesting that you look forward to stories about stabbings and rape. I guess that says a bit about you.

p1 said :

Yay, the bowl survived!

[If anyone’s friends suggest to you that riding a shopping trolley into the bowl some frosty Canberra night, I respectfully suggest you don’t do it. Or if you do, wear a helmet, as a safety beanie isn’t enough]

I remember riding bread crates down the bowl on a Friday night about 16yrs ago and not being able to get back out again without assistance. Ah those were the good ole days.

It does look very impressive, and great to see they retained the bowl. Disappointing that the allocation of funding wasn’t sufficient to construct a new vert ramp though.

Captain RAAF11:24 am 26 May 11

I look forward to the stabby/assault/rape/graffiti/criminal damage stories there in the next few months!

Yay, the bowl survived!

[If anyone’s friends suggest to you that riding a shopping trolley into the bowl some frosty Canberra night, I respectfully suggest you don’t do it. Or if you do, wear a helmet, as a safety beanie isn’t enough]

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