Breaking ground: Cr Michelle Sutherland, Maylands MP Lisa Baker, mayor Filomena Piffaretti, Morley MP Amber-Jade Sanderson, skate park committee member Daniel Smith and Cr Josh Eveson.

CONSTRUCTION is underway on the new Bayswater skate and BMX park.

The existing Wotton Reserve skate park has to make way for the state government’s Metronet upgrades to the nearby Morley train station.

It was due to be demolished in 2021 but users and parents feared that might leave the locale without a park for years. It happened in Adelaide, where a skatepark was shut down in 2015 with promises of a replacement – it’s yet to materialise.

A campaign led by now-councillor Josh Eveson before he was elected pushed to get a replacement locked in before the current one was demolished. After an exhaustive search the new site was picked on Wotton Reserve just a kickflip from the old one, and the state government picked up the relocation bill.

It’ll be pretty similar in layout to the last one, Bayswater mayor Filomena Piffaretti says.

“The skate community told us they loved the current skatepark, so the new design retains its original flow and skate elements that they know and love, with a few enhancements.

“The hero of the new facility will be a 3.3-metre-high, 13.5-metre-wide vert ramp with additional roll-ins coming in from above the main platform, the first of its kind in WA and a major upgrade of the existing ramp. Similar to a facility in Mona Vale, New South Wales, the half-pipe will be a major drawcard for skaters and riders.”

If construction goes smoothly it’ll be open in five to eight months.