Seven sites were reviewed, with four of those eliminated as possible locations as they did not meet a number of criteria.

Each site was assessed according to 37 separate criteria which looked at the size of site, proximity to local residents, access to local amenities, passive surveillance and impact on existing recreational space and users.

The criteria were developed by skate park consultants Convic Design, who have designed and built over 300 skate parks world-wide.

The three possible skate park locations are north of the netball hard-courts area, the BMX track on Marmion Street and Reserve Street on the South Western Highway.

The area north of the netball hard-courts met the majority of the criteria and in particular is not too close to residents, will have sufficient space, with or without the removal of the training wickets and has good access.

It has good proximity to all amenities and can be created as streetscape/urban design.

One concern with this site is visual surveillance when compared to other sites.

The BMX track site on Marmion Street has the potential to be a multi-use facility with the existing BMX track, has sufficient space and good passive surveillance.

The Reserve Street area on the South Western Highway site satisfies the criteria of not being close to residential development, has good passive surveillance, is visible to the wider community, good proximity to all amenities and can be created as streetscape/urban design.

This would allow for street furniture to be designed to allow both skaters and pedestrians to use the same furniture for different purposes.

Of the seven possible sites, four have now been removed as possible skate park locations, including the Liberty Service Station site, the old caravan park site, south of the FunPark and the netball courts site.

Council is recommending the next stage of the selection process to be a public meeting where the three shortlisted sites can be presented and comments sought from the general public and in particular, potential users of the proposed facility.

It is anticipated this public meeting will be held on Monday, February 20, at 7pm in the seniors’ room at the Donnybrook Library.

A representative from the skate park design consultants, Convic Design will be in attendance at the meeting.

The full details of the selection criteria are available on the shire website, including a breakdown of the individual assessment of each location.