Loch Skate Park

Our new Skate Park is now complete.( See news of our GRAND OPENING held Sun Dec 2nd,2007)  under the News heading at right.

The Skate Park is built on the land adjoining Sunnyside Park. It was designed to cater for all ages and levels of ability and accomodates bikes as well as skateboards, although we discourage the use of bikes with back pegs as these can damage the concrete surface.

We thank Steve Cousins of Vortex Skate & Surf in Wonthaggi who assisted with the design and concretors Grant Flather & Luke Spokes of Prom Trades, who constructed the park and donated their expertise and use of thei rtool. Local suppliers were used to provide materials and we thank Gary Morrison of TGS sand & spoil for donating fill for the project.

We would like to highlight the enormous effort that has gone into funding the park and acknowledge all those who have helped.

Money for the Skate Park was raised by the Loch Skate Park team in conjunction with a successful grant submission put in by South Gippsland Shire Council to Sport & Recreation Victoria.

The Loch Skate Park team consists of local youth and members of the Loch Community Development Association. A  fundraising auction organised by the Skate Park team and held in the Loch Public Hall on Saturday 18th August 2007 saw over $11,000 raised.

Around 90 people attended and 120 donated goods and services went under the hammer. Eddie Hams & Matt Loughridge from LANDMARK Korumburra generously donated their services as auctioneers while celebrity guest Shawn Cosgrove kept the audience amused with witty commentary.

The South Gippsland Youth Council awarded a Youth Community Connections grant to cover the cost of running the night. South Gippsland Mayor and local councillor Jennie Deane also announced an allocation of $1000 from her discretionary fund and highly commended the work of the team and the value of the project to the youth.

The youth took turns on the night to parade the auction items on the catwalk set up in the middle of the hall so the audience could see what was up for sale. Local soundman Len McGrath provided a professional sound and lighting service at no cost.

The Lions Club of Strzelecki was another major sponsor, donating a 106cm Television. 20 keys were sold throughout the night but only one would open the televisions locked chained. The lucky keyholder took home a TV worth $2000 by purchasing a key for under $100.

Auction attendees were kept happy with a plentiful supply of food which was catered for by local volunteer Naureen Keilar with lots of help from the Loch community. Refreshments were provided by Sybil and staff from the Royal Hotel, who generously donated $1 from each drink sold and also provided accomodation for Shawn Cosgrove.

The Loch skate park team would like to sincerely thank all the local people who supported the event and made donations to the auction & project.