Located approximately 100 kilometres south of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Coomalie Community Government Council recently installed a mobile skate ramp. Skateramps Australia’s Mobile Fun Box is the first to be installed in the Northern Territory.
Coomalie CEO, Lisa Wain, said the ramp was installed in November after much demand from local young people.
“I have been at Coomalie for two years, and a skate ramp was on the agenda well before my time here,” she said. “Local youth were so keen on bringing a skate ramp to the area, that my job interview relied on the likelihood that I would be able to achieve this.”
Coomalie’s two population centres of Batchelor and Adelaide River are small, rural townships with a large number of young people in residence.
With Victoria’s Hindmarsh Shire Council receiving a Heart Foundation Local Government Award in 2003 for its mobile skate ramp project, Lisa Wain is confident that improved health and fitness levels will result from use of the facility in Coomalie.
“Skateboarding, roller blading and BMX riding provide the benefits of physical, mental and social activities,” she said. “They also have added benefits in that they provide good aerobic exercise, they do not require a routine commitment, and they have a high peer esteem value for youth, which in turn encourages participation. The facility will also provide a meeting place for social contact and interaction.”
Lisa Wain said that as a small Council, Coomalie’s budget could not support more than one ramp.
“The mobile fun box is perfect for our needs, as we are able to share it between Bachelor and Adelaide River,” she said. “We can now provide access to a larger number of people, while staying within our budget constraints.”
Lisa Wain said the skate ramp basically sets itself up, so moving the ramp from one location to another is hassle free. When folded up in its travel mode, the all steel constructed fun box provides storage space for other items of the skate venue such as humps, jumps, spines and grind rails.
The skate ramp is currently set up next to a recreation oval in Bachelor, underneath shade trees. It is envisaged that the facility will be sited in each township on a fortnightly rotating basis and be available for local schools.
For further information contact Lisa Wain on (08) 8976 0058 or Jim Campbell at Skateramps Australia on (03) 9702 4005.
