RESIDENTS opposed to a skate park near Wanda Beach claim building on the site will jeopardise the future of the Wanda helipad and be a risk to public safety.
The director of NRMA CareFlight, Ian Badham, said he wrote to Sutherland Shire Council's general manager, John Rayner, on May 1.
"We are not anti-skate park, but anything built in that area must be done in such a way that it does not impinge on what is a great community asset and one that would be hard to replicate,'' he said.
Mr Badham said the site was the only dedicated helicopter landing area along the Sydney coast and was used by CareFlight, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service and the NSW Air Ambulance.
"Should development be permitted in the areas adjacent to the helipad this would compromise the safety of this unique facility,'' he said.
Marilyn Urch from the North Cronulla Precinct committee said council "sat'' on the letter and another one from the Air Ambulance expressing similar concerns.
"It's a shame that council didn't investigate this issue before they promised all these kids they could have a skate park,'' she said.
A council spokeswoman said the letters had been received, but "any proposal for a skate park would not involve relocation of the helipad''.
The helipad is one more hiccup in what has been a 12-year process.
A special committee meeting planned for June 15 will see a report lodged by the skate park reference group and both sides invited to present their case.
Mrs Urch said hundreds of people were opposed to a skate park at the site but none were willing to be photographed for fear they would be "victimised''.
She claimed an indoor skate park in Caringbah would be a better alternative, but that would mean skaters would be charged a fee.
Chris Lawson, a member of the skate park committee, said the helipad was just another excuse and park opponents were "grasping at straws''.
"I personally cannot see how it would have any impact on the helipad. The area is fenced off and if they had any problems surely they would have moved the fence further out years ago,'' he said.
"Mr Lawson said more people aged five to 14 skated and rollerbladed than played soccer and league combined, yet there were "100 council-managed football fields'' compared with two ageing skate parks.
"He said claims the park would cause a crime surge were "outright wrong''.
"A police report given to the committee said statistics did not indicate any increase in antisocial behaviour at existing skate parks in the shire,'' he said.
Byron Hurst was a Sutherland Shire councillor when the skate park idea was first proposed in 1997 as part of the Wanda Masterplan.
"It involved creating one unified green space, with volleyball courts and a skateboard park,'' he said. "But a dozen or so residents jumped up and down and it just fell off the backburner.''
He said the fight over the park reminded him of protests over plans to put the sandstone memorial and a playground along the Bass and Flinders walk.
"When we proposed the upgrade there were huge protests. People said it would ruin their lives. But once it was done people loved it.''
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