Plans are in place to build a "the city's first destination" skatepark in Mount Maunganui.

Tauranga City Council is co-designing a destination skatepark for the city alongside a community design group, as well as upgrading existing skate facilities.

The new skatepark will be located on the corner of Hull Road and Maunganui Road, opposite the New World supermarket on Maunganui Road.

This site was chosen for a number of reasons, including:

-Its high-profile location which will add value to the surf/skate culture in Tauranga

-Excellent passive surveillance (people can keep an eye out for each other)

-Its proximity to a range of amenities including shops, toilets, Mount Maunganui beach and Blake Park

-Its location on existing cycleway and public transport routes, enabling easier access by foot, bike, skating and other roller modes

-It can be integrated with planned traffic and pedestrian safety improvements along Maunganui and Hull Roads, and Tweed and Dee Streets in 2023-2024.

Council's spaces and places director Paul Dunphy says the Hull Road site offers good opportunities for linking different skate zones together.

'We will be offering a range of street and bowl features at various levels and grades, including a competition flow bowl, both to allow for the progression of skating abilities but also to meet the requirements of the advanced and competitive skater.

'We will also be working with mana whenua to incorporate the cultural history, insights and narratives of the area, as well as responding to the surf/skate culture, history and brand.”

A number of safety improvements are being made to Maunganui Road to make it safer and more attractive.

Future plans include a new signalised crossing over Maunganui Road at the Tweed Street intersection.

Further signalised crossings and traffic calming improvements are proposed for Maunganui Road from Hull Road to Tui Street, all of which will provide safe access to the skate park.

Paul says skating provides physical, mental and social benefits.

'It's a fun, unstructured, affordable activity that promotes being active and creative in suitable outdoor environments.

'The skating industry has told Council more people have been taking up skateboarding in Tauranga since the addition of these sports to the Olympic programme.

'Having a world-class destination skate park in Tauranga will help aspiring Olympic skateboarders and attract skating events both domestically and internationally, providing a boost to our local tourism industry and economy.”

Young skaters such as Vitor Kokemper, 11, from Mount Maunganui will soon be able to hone their skills at Tauranga's first destination skate park, to be located on the corner of Mount Maunganui and Hull Roads.

As well as building a new destination skate park, Council is upgrading existing skate facilities. Further improvements to the Memorial Park skate park will be made in August.

'Working with the community design group and our skate designer, we've come up with some super fun street-skate obstacles such as a manual ledge, a pole jam, a glass reinforced concrete (GRC) standard ledge and bank ledge, three different types of kerb grinders, and even a fire hydrant with GRC kicker.

'We'll be reconfiguring the layout with some local skaters, so watch this space.”

For more information about the destination skate park project visit the website www.tauranga.govt.nz/skate