Improvements thanks to your input

Thank you all - there has been a significant contribution made by local skaters, riders and community from the consultations. We have collated an extensive list of ideas as well as many valid suggestions to improve the design of the park.

Overall the DRAFT Concept Design has received overwhelming support with many constructive comments allowing us to develop and improve the concept further.

Some of the changes made so far include enclosing the ‘Flow’ area at the western end (Launceston Street). This revised design, as well as allowing a ‘return’, creates much more space at the western entry where the entry stairs and the ramp is proposed.

There may also be some confusion about the grade of the ‘Flow’ area. The concept, which is still in development, has shown a very mild 1:40 fall. This grade is equivalent the Australian Standard for a footpath crossfall (1:40). This is marginally steeper than the typical fall used in skateparks to ensure adequate surface drainage.

Most of the elements in the flow section are between 750-1200 high. The central landing is 1200 high generally with a high point of 1500 . The landing at the bowl is 1500 high. There will be a clear line of sight from the east end (Yamba Drive), along the 50m long ‘flow’ area, to the bowl at the west.

We have allowed 15m, a significant distance, between the bowl and hip to minimize conflict in this area.

The time people have taken to review the design is really appreciated. We always welcome input and comments and will consider how we can accommodate as much of the feedback as possible.

And in other news the selection of the project manager for detail design and construction of the project will be finalised next week.

draft plan

Convic have worked so, so hard and prepared a fantastic draft plan for the youth plaza.

We took the plan to the reference group and a Canberra College workshop on Friday and to a public information stand in the park on Saturday. The comments we have received have been overwhelmingly positive and the team has received some great constructive suggestions to make the design even better. If you haven't seen the plan take a look - and for a better resolution image see here .



You can leave comments on the design on this blog or complete the feedback sheet and send to:

Attention: Lea Durie
Design and Development
Parks, Conservations and Lands
Territory and Municipal Services
GPO Box 158
Canberra City ACT 2601

To keep the project moving on a very tight timeline we need comments back by Tuesday the 10th of March - it doesn't leave much time so send them in soon.

Feel free to leave a comment if you need a question answered.

- and here are some images from the consultation on Saturday thanks to Luke Brown and David Pang

what is a youth recreation facility???

Reading though comments on the Riotact today it seems that we can be clearer on what this facility is.

It is an outdoor recreation space - in essence a playground for big kids. It will have some outdoor performance spaces for impromptu shows, Woden Valley Community Festival events and Youth Week events, for instance. It will have a range of shaded seating areas, activity spaces such as climbing wall and basketball, and a skate plaza and bowl area.

It is not is a youth centre. The Woden Youth Centre is a short walk away and provides an excellent service for young people in Woden, so there is no need for another centre.

Have a look when we post draft plans on Monday or come along on Saturday to the park.

Please remember to post a comment here to let us know what you think of the design - we need to hear your voice to make sure we get it right for as many people as possible.

Plans to be seen soon

Convic Design have been working away developing draft plans for the facility for you to see this week.

If you are a student at Canberra College you will get a chance to see them at a student workshop lunch time on Friday.

If not please come along to Eddison Park this Saturday morning between 9.30 and 11.30.

You will also notice I have put some other links on the sidebar - these are from skate park designer and builder Jeremy Butterworth's work in Sweden and well worth a look.

...and tenders for a project manager for the project close today and the successful tenderer will be announced in a few days.

Budget clarity

The ACT government has a commitment to providing an integrated multipurpose recreation facility for the Woden Youth Plaza. Whilst skateboarding will be a key element, it will be a component of a larger development of the space that will include play areas, social spaces and events infrastructure as well as amenity including shade, seating, access and soft landscaping.

As such the construction budget of around $1.1 million will distributed accordingly along these lines. We will be looking for feedback at the next consultation, Feb 28th, on the initial draft design.

RSL in support

Today PCL met with representatives of the Woden Valley RSL Sub Branch, who are very supportive of the project. The branch hosts a youth event each year where children from 20 schools come to partipate in a modified ANZAC day ceremony. This year the event will be held in early April. The branch sees the benefits of what we are planning as replacing lost facilities for families and young people in the Woden area.


PCL and Convic will be looking at ways to integrate information about the history of the park and its significance as a memorial site through the youth plaza design. The Master Plan for Eddison Park also proposes a memorial avenue between the pond and the cemetery.

For those who are not aware of the back ground to the park name Eddison, the Eddison family held land in the area of Woden with a homestead not far from the park. The three sons of the Eddison Family were all killed in WWII.

The remaining sister, Pam, still lives locally and is very excited about the plans for the park.

What you had to say

On January 28th over 50 people came to Eddison Park to tell Convic Design and PCL (Parks, Conservation and Lands) what they wanted to see at the park.


Here is a record of what people at the meeting wanted in the youth plaza. Comments from the reference group meeting will be in the next post.

Comments are listed on initial of contributor. Comments not noted by a particular person are under General Comments:

General Comments:
Lighting to skate at night like Tuggeranong
Shade trees – better than ‘roof / shelter’
Nerang – too many trees?
Damaging skate
Must be challenging to skate
Frankston kidney or clover bowl
Skydock 8ft quarters
Banked hip with gap, bank to wall
Big piece in the middle; image of Vietnam as long as it is skateable
Jersey Barrier
Joining bowls to create Box jump
Flatbank to quarter like Woodwood East
Not Gungahlin mellow transition
Key holes
Seperation between age groups but developmental
Paths connecting to other suburbs
Tight banks
Wedge ledge
Street
Flow all around not back and forth
Hips
Shade over park
Fast wall rides
Step back ledge
Step-up bowl section 8-9ft up to steep
4-5ft tight section
Cry if Geelong happens,; structure/artistic stuff to have lines to it
Volleyball wanted
Basketball 3 point area

J:
Jersey barrierTriangles / banks with edgeBank to wallHubbasFlatbank to hubbas Flatbar / across and down rail (doesn't have to be with stairs, flatbanks can be more user friendly)Euro gapTrannied planter boxes / creative trannied objectsTriangle legdes / wavy ledges / curved ledges

R:
Jump box
Hill n Dale

J:
Erindale Skatepark - banks
leaves from tree to be cleaned with broom
Poplars instead if Blue Gums
Gungahlin transition
Woden bowl destroyed
Weston Creek
‘Moonscape’ Plaza
Dubbo without the capsule
No social bowl, Pool literally tight transition
Crater Park
Bowl not like belco
Flow
No flat spots
Eurogap
Nerang limited flow, why put a block in the runway?
Keep it simple
Come out of 6ft quarter to ledge
Concrete skate surface
Civic doesn’t flow
Built well
Cater for BMX even though not really into it as long as its not all that ‘big ramps’
Doesn’t have to be pure bowl but speed and a ‘sense’ of a bowl
Kids learn so fast and have no fear

C:
Cairns, Waterloo/Fernside & Cammeray Plaza North Sydney
Ledges, stairs and rails
Frankston small bowl
Two blocks better than one in a run
Stuff for beginners

N:
Redlands Plaza, bowl no granite

P:
More street
Gungahlin, Weston, Tuggeranong
Already got ‘Viking BMX’?

C:
So much transition in Canberra
Walls with transition
Nerang
Banks in triangle keep skating
Flow continuously ride

W:
Frankston number 2 bowl not fast enough
Pambula big tranny to much flat not enough bowl section
12ft high hip woth semi box jump?
Go high

T:
Skate plaza
Tight transition
Weston mellow transition

R:
8ft bowl
Only enclosed bowl Belco

S:
Massive hip bank
The park must work both ways left and right

D:
Varsity bowl, not street course
Waves and cradle

E:
Water fountain
Lush seating environment

D:
Decent sized bowl

P:
Street park
Wack fun stuff you find in street
Hand rails not too high, handrails at Civic

J:
We try and skate street and we get kicked out
Capalaba ‘heaps good’
Bowl and street

R:
Banks, wall and stairs…heaps
Pyramid that you don’t think you can skate

B&J:
Creative, fun, flow, nothing gets in the way
No waiting around for the one way and one direction. Multiple directions
Stairs with bank up with eurogap to return
6 stair

C:
Something like Geelong is amazing

K:
Bowl, hips, sub boxes
Weston & Tuggeranong
Spine
Down capsule with ramp

L:
‘Wife chair’
Lounges

B:
Play music
Erindale banks are the best thing in Canberra Pros like Shane Croft, Jamie Thomas, Matt has go insane coverage
Tight transition which is difficult to skate

M:
Scooty Shearer ‘woopty woo’
Goanna Gold Coast RSLl pokies
Erindale banks
Brick and any materials! Wood
Acrylic/Polycarbonate see through
Abstract materials

L:
Pole jams
Wall rides
Before putting in concrete the bowl/bank used to be sick? A local skate spot(?) which was wrecked by lumping conc to create transition

A:
Curved ledge like Banana plastic park seats

P:
More car parking to cater for evens, office workers and school use carpark
Parking along entry to Cemetery would be good
Childrens area

Other comments:
Shade trees better than roof