Benson Lockhart (left) with his son at the Tairua Skate Park opening event. Photo: Leonard Powell
There is an atmosphere of happy pandemonium in Tairua, as Thames Coromandel District Council Mayor Len Salt officially opens the brand new Skate Park.
Hundreds of skaters stormed the fresh concrete on their boards, and scooters whipped around the new bowls and ramps.
Tairua Sport and Recreation Trust chairperson Jacqui Gage-Brown was thrilled with the turnout.
"It's amazing - I didn't realise there were this many people in Tairua! It's such a cool vibe, and it's just so amazing to see everybody here and loving this space."
The decades-long battle for the skate park ended in August last year when the High Court in Hamilton dismissed a legal challenge to block the project.
Kids test out their scootering and skateboarding skills at the new Tairua Skate Park, moments after it opened. Photo: Leonard Powell
Determination was the word of the day, Gage-Brown said.
"What we had to go through was worth it. This is what [the court case] was for... it was for the community. And yeah, nailed it!"
Many residents, like Belinda Marden, could not believe the day had finally arrived.
"So my son - he's 30 now, and thinks he's going to come down and skate it - but he's worried he's going to be one of the ones who'll go off with a broken leg - but better late that never!"
The design was completed by local company Acid Skateboards. Owner Ants Leggett said he was "stoked" to see the park finally in use.
"It's awesome - this is why we build skate parks. I skate, all my crew skates, and we're passionate about it. Just seeing so many kids - and old kids - here, it's why we do it."
Skateboarder Drew Rees throws a shaka. Photo: Leonard Powell
Up at the top of the vertical ramp, I met Drew Rees, who helped build the park. He said he was "buzzing out" watching people skating it.
"It's crazy and it's really rewarding. Like, it's hard because we get to product test to make sure it's safe for the children while the fences are still up. But it's amazing to see how other people use what you put in the ground, yeah."
Rees said he felt "a lot of love" from local residents during the construction process. More than 92 percent of people who submitted on the sports facility supported Cory Park Domain as the location.
"The community's been amazing. When we came to start this project, we were kind of thinking we were a bit punk rock and were going to be driven out by pitchforks because of the drama to get this project over the line.
"But the locals here have been amazing - really hospitable - and everyone respects that the park is happening. It seems to be a few out-of-towners that stirred up a fuss for a very long time."
Rowena Brown had been campaigning for a skate park in the area for 21 years, and was over the moon.
"I've hugged tons of people today, and all those people that I've hugged, I've known they've put in the mahi like lots of us. So many groups have been involved over the years and ... I'm just totally elated."
The Tairua Skate Park just before its launch event. Photo: ACID NZ / SUPPLIED
The event was a multi-generational day, with people of all ages soaking in the celebration.
Benson Lockhart was "frothing" to skate with his teenage son, having waited for it his whole life.
"I'm knocking on half a century and I've been skating all my life... We've been talking about it pretty much since when my good friend, his old man built him a mini-ramp on the Tairua hill up behind Sailors [Grave].
"That would have been the Eighties - and they've been talking about it [the skate park] since then."
Zahlia, 12, (left) and Ari, 13, (right) at the Tairua Skate Park opening event. Photo: Leonard Powell
At the north end of the park I meet an aspiring skater, decked out in knee and elbow pads.
Isla, five, said her favourite park of skating was "just doing skates".
She is here with her parents, Mark and Rachel. Her older sister Zahlia said it felt like Christmas Day.
"It's really cool. But it's also like, really slippery."
Her friend Ari is pumped about no longer having to drive 35 minutes to Whitianga to skate.
"It's so good... and it's so cool to have the skate park here because now it means Isla can skate."
At the other end of the park, Kerry is here with his grandkids.
"This is a good example of what it is doing for the community - there's two-year-olds to 82-year-olds!"
Gabe Johnston had brought his three children down from Whitianga, which had a skate park of their own put in four years ago. He had seen the sport be transformative for his son.
"It's a productive space. You know, the kids are pushing themselves. It's very physical, it's really supportive, it's a real community.
"My son has thrived with it, just because that skate park in Whitianga's there, and hopefully this one here in Tairua will create the same sort of energy for some young kids."
"Nanny" Neera Giri with her hand-drawn sign at the Tairua Skate Park launch. Photo: Leonard Powell
As people dropped into the bowl and skated around the street section, "Nanny" Neera Giri watched on with a smile.
"We've been really trying so hard, and there's the pale, stale, males of the community having tried to thwart the youth from taking risks. They've waited a long time for red tape and bureaucracy to get itself out of the way."
In her hands, there was a hand-written sign that read 'Youth are our future leaders'. She left me with an optimistic message, which summed up the atmosphere.
"I just really am pleased with the young people of this country, and I want to remind them that they, too, could be the prime minister one day, and they need to take risks."
