Noise complaints around a popular vert ramp at Mount Maunganui are going to continue to be common place unless Tauranga City Council seriously considers developing a 'decent” skate park.

That is the view of long-time skater Blair Adshead, who believes after a lean stretch of popular skating areas the mini vert ramp on Maunganui Road offers something new and exciting for city skaters.

Blair Adshead uses the mini vert ramp on Maunganui Road on a daily basis. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Heading for the skate area at 6pm most days, Blair makes a beeline for the mini ramp, despite residents complaining to council over the level of skating noise late at night and into the early hours of the morning.

The mini ramp, donated by The Good Room owner Glenn Smith, was installed next to the $175,000 larger model, built in 1987, after being demolished for safety reasons and the growing cost of maintenance.

Following the complaints a council sign specifying the hours of operation from 7am to 10pm has been erected to try and combat the problem.

But Blair believes the problem runs deeper than the attention the mini vert ramp is drawing, and says safety concerns and inadequate surfaces at other skate parks are in dire need of council attention.

'We have been fighting for a new skate park for so long and everyone is going to the new mini ramp,” he says. 'It's getting over-abused because it's something new. Everyone loves it and it's something decent to skate.

'The kids love it and it's such a shame that we have had an old skate park [17th Avenue] there for so long that was built so badly that no one can progress and no one goes there.”

Having grown up in Arataki, Blair, 22, understands why no parents would feel safe dropping their children off at the skate park in the area next to Baywave, having witnessed incidents of attempted stabbings and assaults along with drug deals.

And according to the skater, the 17th Avenue park 'just hasn't been done properly” and is more suited to BMXs.

All of which leaves skaters of all levels with nowhere else to go.

'Matamata just got a cool skate park, and Katikati just got one,” he says. 'That's fantastic that everyone is getting one expect for the place with the best beach in New Zealand.

'If they replaced the old skate park at 17th Ave then maybe more kids would go there and then the complaints would stop.”

Tauranga City Council communications advisor Marcel Currin says for Tauranga to get a one-stop-shop skate plaza, councillors would need to be convinced through Long Term Plan submissions that it is a good investment for the city.

The only future plans for any additional skate equipment is at Memorial Park, where the reserve management plan allows for the development of a youth hub (including skateboarding facilities). However, all funding sits outside the Long Term Plan.

With available budgets council provides a number of skate parks that are designed to meet a range of community needs. These include 17th Avenue Park, Carlton Street Reserve and Gordon Spratt Reserve.

Marcel says in preparing for the renewal of the Blake Park Vert Ramp, staff worked closely with Mount Skateboarding Association on the design and layout of the ramps.

He admits the vert ramp isn't as heavily used as the mini-ramp, but believes it is a matter of progression, and as people develop skills and techniques they will progress from the mini-ramp onto the vert-ramp.

Responding to Blair's concerns around safety at Arataki, Marcel says the park is currently the busiest skate park in the city.

'We have seen significant improvements in the environment of this park since council's investment in the Community Centre which maintains overview of the whole park,” he says.

'The parks team has worked closely with the Arataki Advisory Group, NZ Police and other TCC departments to improve the environment around the skate park.”