Call for skate park at Tralee wetlands

KERRY County Council has said it will examine proposals for a skate park at the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre as part of its ongoing work to explore what new attractions could be introduced at the facility.

There have been calls for the construction of a skate and bike park in Tralee for several years with many of the town’s young people expressing major frustration with the lack of amenities available to them.

While €150,000 was granted to Kerry County Council to build a “skateboard facility” at the Tralee Sports Centre in 2005, the project never proceeded and, it is understood, the allocated funding was never drawn down.

In July 2015 a group of Tralee teenagers handed a petition into Kerry County Council calling for the construction of the long promised skate and bike park in the town.

At the time the group behind the petition – which included several hundred names – said that while many resources, such as playgrounds and walking routes, have been provided for families and children Tralee’s teen were being ignored.

They were also upset at the fact that they were unfairly blamed for many of the town’s public order problems, an accusation they flatly rejected.

At Monday’s meeting of Kerry County Council’s Tralee Municipal District division Sinn Féin Cllr Toireasa Ferris tabled a motion calling on the council to prepare costings for a skate park at the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre.

Council management said that they are currently working with management at the centre to explore what new attractions could be introduced there to increase income and footfall.

As part of this process – which is focussed on improving visitor numbers in the tourism ‘off season’ – council management said they will consider the feasibility of developing a skatepark.