Mayor Lou Maieron brought up the issue of skateboard parks recently.
On Jan. 10, Wellington OPP Inspector Scott Smith said he understood Erin was planning a skateboard park in the community. Referring to ongoing community satisfaction surveys, Smith said “One of the biggest issues we find anywhere is the lack of youth activities and facilities.
“I certainly applaud your efforts,” he added. But Smith also cautioned council.
“Be careful where it is installed or you will have nothing but nightmares.”
In a worst case scenario, the police would be called on a minute-by-minute basis to police the activities around the skateboard park.
“Then suddenly you find out that it is not being utilized because responsible parents will not let their children near it,” Smith said, adding there are options council could consider.
One, Smith said, would be to email him the information on where the site is planned and media officer Constable Mark Cloes could inspect the site.
“We do a crime prevention through environmental design survey, which would point out potential problems with specific sites.”
Smith said some places experience problems in Wellington County and in other areas, and are typically isolated with poor lighting and no residents in the vicinity to observe inappropriate activities that might occur.
“What ends up happening is drug dealers showing up and taking them over, or kids looking for a place to drink on Friday or Saturday nights.”
In other cases, kids might show up on BMX bikes, eliminating the opportunity for others to use their skateboards. He said if people can see what is going on – phone calls allow the police to respond to the problems.
“In an isolated area, we’ll never get the phone calls. And you’ll wonder why no one is using it.”
Graffiti wall
Councillor Barb Tocher asked if Smith had any comment on a proposal for a graffiti wall in conjunction with building the skateboard park.
The wall would provide a space for art work.
She said it would be a space kids could consider their own with the idea, “This is all yours. Express yourselves.”
Smith said, “I would honestly be interested as to how that works out for you.”
Tocher said there has been no decision if that proposal will proceed.
Smith said, “What we find is that in large urban centres, if they know it’s going to be painted over … all you’ve done is create a clean surface to start over.”
Smith said many areas looking to eliminate graffiti have put paintings on the walls, or hired someone to put graffiti on the walls. “How it would work with a blank wall where they could put up graffiti as long as everything else was left alone? I’m intrigued as to how that would work.”
Tocher said the idea was a suggestion from an 8 to 12-year-old who was at one of the meetings on the park.
Those at the meeting had expressed concern about graffiti at the skateboard park because they tend to be targets. The youth’s suggestion was to just build a place that can be painted.
“It was one of the most brilliant things I’ve heard of in a long time. It’s stuck with me ever since,” Tocher said.
Smith said he has tried to advocate thinking out of the box and being creative.
“If it works, it may be something that can be farmed out to everyone else.”
