Cleaning the bowl - ABC Online

Young people today ... are cleaning and looking after their stuff.

During the battle to have the Empire Park Skate Park constructed, residents listed their concerns as including a perceived link between skateboarding and vandalism and pushed for a small facility saying, 'The smaller you make it, the less likely you are to have some of the big problems'. Other residents concerns included 'safety and vandalism, appearance and family friendliness [and] ongoing maintenance'.

1233's Carol Duncan drops by the park most weekends with her keen skater 10-year old son and caught up with Gravel Burns, John Bogaerts and a group of local teen skaters who were deep inside the bowl with mops, buckets and a hose.

"We're just keeping the bowl nice and tidy. We do it about every two months, get any graffiti off, get all the rubbish off the walls, keep it nice and clean which makes it much safer and easy to ride. It gets a bit slippery with the dust and sand," said Gravel Burns.

For all the opposition originally to the construction of the skate park, it busts a few stereotypes finding a group of teenagers inside the bowl with mops, buckets of soap and squeegees. Gravel Burns says, "We waited 25 years for it so if we look after it it will stay as it is. It's the best one in the country."

"Council have got plenty of other infrastructure to look after themselves. An hour and it's done."

"The kids would rather be skating and the first few times we did it they just sat and watched, but they know from experience now that if they get in and help out it dries quickly and they can get back in and skate."

"One of the things that people from outside Newcastle say when they come here is that Newcastle has got by far the most supportive, balanced skateboarding scene,"

"I think part of that is that there are a lot of guys here that skate that are between 45 and 55 and we like to show these (younger) guys that if you look after stuff, not only do you keep what you've got but council are more prepared to give you more facilities in the future."

"Maybe they even go home and say, 'Mum, I learned how to use a mop today, I'll help you clean the floors!"