Skating on thin ice with parents
A PLAN to build a skate park outside the Southport Surf Club as part of the Spit Ocean Park is causing an uproar among parents of nippers raising child safety concerns.
Opposition has also surfaced about changing the main roundabout next to the Southport Yacht Club and widening nearby roads.
Parents say it would reduce much-needed carparking spaces when they arrive with their kids for early morning training.
The Spit Master Plan calls for a “flexible urban youth space” which includes a viewing amphitheatre providing “an exhilarating facility for skaters and onlookers”.
Greg Clarke, a parent of five, club member and assistant age member in the nippers program, sent a submission to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warning about the safety issues.
“The draft plan to put a flexible urban youth space including a skate park right outside Southport Surf Club’s nipper building shows absolutely no consideration for child protection whatsoever,” Mr Clarke wrote.
Southport SLSC’s nipper program has more than 400 children, aged from five to 13, who use the area west of the clubhouse where the skate park would be built.
“With the vast majority of nippers in the younger age groups under six to under 10, putting a skate park just outside the nipper building would put a lot of children’s lives at risk, both from the hazards of the skate park itself and much older unsupervised youth,” Mr Clarke said.
A better option for the skate park would be at the northern end of Hollindale Park where there was more parking, he added.
Replacing the roundabout and widening the road could take away at least 20 parking spaces from MacArthur Pde and Seaworld Dve, Mr Clarke said.
The most obvious location for additional carparking would be down towards the southern end of Hollindale Park, across the road from the yacht club car park.
Mr Clarke clarified that he was not a patrol member or speaking on behalf of the club, rather a parent who was supporting the volunteers.
“While the Draft Master Plan provides the Southport Yacht Club with an additional carpark for their boat stacking facility, it fails to provide any additional parking for Southport Surf Life Saving club, and the general public at Main Beach,” he said.
“The Draft Master Plan seems very biased to the yacht club, while ignoring the Surf Club.”
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek in State Parliament has accused the Government of ignoring the needs of lifesavers. He supports Mr Clarke’s concerns.
But State Development Minister Cameron Dick said: “With the master plan now finalised, the implementation of the plan will feature ongoing consultation with both SLSQ and the club.
“This will ensure the matters discussed as part of the master planning process can be implemented over time. There has been $35 million allocated through the master planning process for transport and access improvements along The Spit.”