Korben Lirette made a deputation to The Finance and Administration Committee Meeting at Vaughan City Hall today. The purpose was to persuade Council to advance the approval of this initiative to the 2012 budget rather than 2014 as was originally proposed.
Here's a transcript of Korben's speech:
Good afternoon. My name is Korben Lirette and I live On Napa Valley Avenue in Woodbridge.
In my neighbourhood we have to skateboard and bmx in the street. Every day kids like me who have outgrown the playgrounds are waxing curbs in the parking lot and dodging traffic. Skateboarding and BMXing has become huge, and in Canada, there are more people that skateboard than participate in organized hockey. These sports are not a passing trend and USA Today reports that anywhere from 2-3 skateparks are built each week in the United States.
With the popularity of the X-Games and Dew Tour, the demand for skateparks has increased. Other Wards have been getting some really nice parks built and Brampton and Mississauga have a lot of community parks.
We need a safe place to spend our time in our neighbourhood.
In June of 2010, a group of students from Elder’s Mills Public School made a deputation to the city to construct a Multi-use Skatepark Facility at Napa Valley Park.
This fall we created a website and posted flyers to get support. We’ve had almost 300 people visit the site and 76 people have signed the petition.
Our community supports and needs this facility! Please approve the funding for the Skatepark at Napa Valley Park.
Thank you.
His words were met with great enthusiasm and were supported by the Councillors. In particular, Councillor Tony Carella, Coucillor Deb Schulte and Councillor Sandra Racco Yeung had some great input to the group, which was very much appreciated.
Cross your fingers. We'll keep you updated.
