Safety concerns for skateboarders will see Bayside Council investigate options for installing safer lighting at the new skatepark at West Botany Street, Rockdale.
The skatepark is part of the new Ador Reserve Precinct, a $20 million upgrade of the former Rockdale Bowling Club site by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) as part of the M6 Stage 1 project.
It opened in December and is attracting skateboarders bike riders from as far as the inner west and southern suburbs.
Skateboarder James Walker said while the skatepark is getting rave reviews from users the lights were too dim.
"It's quite important for a skateboarder or bike rider to have pretty good lighting," James told the April 27 meeting of Bayside Council.
"I've broken my arm before skateboarding, not necessarily because there was bad lighting but because there was a tiny rock and my skateboard just stopped still and I flew forward.
"Not having the right sort of visibility can cause all sorts of problems. The soccer fields have got good lights but the skatepark seems to be a bit dim compared with these other facilities.
"A lot of people work and can't get down there until after the sun goes down.
"I see people aged from two-years to 60 actively skateboarding. I even see older people down there with their grandchildren.
"It's a great community place. We are very happy with the park.
"We are not after stadium lighting but just some additional lighting to make it safer."
Fellow skateboarder Flynn Charlesworth told the council that better lighting would be beneficial for skatepark users at the new skatepark.
"We have lighting that is not much brighter than in the street," he said.
"All around us we have stadiums with 200 lux lights. Ours are barely just 15."
Councillor Heidi Douglas submitted a Notice of Motion calling for a report, including a plan for community consultation and possible funding, investigating a range of lighting options at the skate park.
This may include investigation of adding LED solar street lights with self-contained batteries which can be added onto the site with minimal infrastructure changes.
She was supported by the council.
Cr Douglas said the new skatepark is a great facility of which the council should be very proud.
"But this only needs to be a small improvement to make the lighting significantly safer," she said.
"The lighting is currently dimmer and murkier than the nearby car park or kids playground. It's just not bright enough for safe use."
Cr Ed McDougall said the reason the lighting was dim was that there was a lot of pushback from the residents (during the skatepark consultation) who were immediately adjacent to the skatepark.
"I just want to make sure we involve the residents in the consultation process and we are sympathetic to them while balancing the needs of the skateboarders," he said.
"We don't want anyone falling over and hurting themselves, particularly young children, while skating."
