Skateboard ramp closed

Press, 25 May 1989, Page 7

Skateboard ramp closed

By

SUZANNE KEEN

An Opawa teenager who spent $3OO and months building a skateboard ramp in his backyard has now been told he must stop using it. Christopher Davis had only five weeks use of the 3.7 m by 7.3 m plywood ramp before a Christchurch City Council officer knocked on his door to investigate a complaint about the noise it caused. The noise level was measured and found to surpass the maximum allowable. Christopher Davis and his skateboarding friends were told they

would have to find somewhere else to practise their sport. “It had been going really well,” he said. “We only used it in daylight.” The teenager has been forced to bring his skateboard back to the city centre, riding it in places such as Cathedral Square, the streets and the City Mall. He has been looking for somewhere else to put his ramp, such as in an industrial yard or a school, but so far to no avail. He believes there should be somewhere in the centre of Christ-

church where skateboarders can go without endangering themselves or annoying other people. His mother, Mrs Michelle Davis, said that one of the reasons the family bought a property with a large backyard was so that her son could build his ramp. She felt he was safer skateboarding there than in the streets. Because of concern about Christchurch skateboarders, a meeting will be held at the Christchurch City Council on June 6, at 7.30 p.m., to discuss the possibility of setting aside an area for the sport.