Roller skaters’ plea to Rotorua council over unsafe surfaces
Rotorua’s roller-skating community has penned an open letter to the council to stop using a type of path material that members say makes skating parks unsafe and impractical.
Layla Robinson, co-founder of Rotorua’s roller derby league, the Sulphur City Steam Rollers, said she and other skaters are frustrated about the poor quality of the design of some recreational spaces in the district which are “totally impractical” for roller skaters.
Robinson wrote the open letter to the Rotorua Lakes Council regarding the issue.
The council says it will respond to Robinson directly.
“Dear Rotorua Lakes Council, please refrain from using the terrible pumice/stone/dust stuff that you seem so fond of, near concrete or playgrounds in current and future developments.
“Stones are not friends to those using small wheels, such as skateboards, scooters, roller skates or roller blades,” the letter reads.
“We have also been informed by our friends on slightly larger wheels, that this surface is not cool for wheelchairs either! Booooo . . .
“Even the most experienced skater . . . can break their whole face off when they try to navigate their way over these stones. It’s not safe, and it’s just not logical.
“We, your small-wheeled community (no, we’re not all mountain bikers) implore you to consult with us prior to designing anything else intended for us to use. So much of what’s happening isn’t useable and it could be.”
Robinson signed off the letter saying the skating community appreciated cycleways.
Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting, Robinson said a good example of the problem was at Puketawhero Park.
She said the material was difficult and dangerous to skate on, which meant roller skaters had to navigate around it rather than being able to skate continuously through the park.
“I’m sure it’s a designer’s dream, in their head it looks really good but it’s totally impractical.”
Additionally, the material tended to disperse on to nearby smooth concrete surfaces, which proved a hazard for many kinds of skaters as it caused skidding and small pieces of gravel and dust could stop wheels turning, she said.
Robinson understood the council regularly canvassed skateboarders for their input on parks, but different circumstances applied to roller skaters.
“With scooters and skateboards, you can get off those in a second and walk from one place to another if there’s a hazard or something unskatable in between. We can’t take our skates off in a second.”
If the parts of Puketawhero Park with the material were filled in with concrete, it would make the park “10 times better” for skaters, she said.
Robinson said roller skating was undergoing a “resurgence”, particularly after the Covid-19 lockdown.
the smoothly paved
She said the roller-skating community was “desperate” for a roller skating rink in the city but needed to gather $14,000 for a feasibility study before the idea would be considered by the council.
She said that was another reason why it was important for the council to consider roller skaters’ requirements outside — because they had no other choice.
She said the rink would not have to be purpose-built but could be a warehouse space that wasn’t being used.
Fellow Sulphur City Roller Derby skater Kerry Pearson, aka Princess Die, said she’d started carrying a broom in the back of her car to make skateparks safer to use.
“There are not many places that are easy to skate where we’re allowed to skate,” she said, expressing her view.
“Places like [Puketawhero Park] that are designed to be safe for us, should be safe for us.”
Robinson’s comments were put to the Rotorua Lakes Council for right of reply, and asked, among other things, if the council planned on taking the rollerskating community’s points into consideration in the future.
A council spokeswoman gave thanks that the issue had been brought to the council’s attention, saying: “A staff member will contact Layla Robinson directly to discuss her concerns and ideas.”