MORE than 150 people have submitted a document opposing the skate park at the Esplanade to Fremantle council this week.

It’s enough to trigger a special electors’ meeting where opponents will air their grievances about the park.

Opponents want the council to acknowledge resolutions passed at an April 23 public meeting, the night before the council voted to approve the skate park.

Former deputy mayor John Dowson says the council bungled the consultation process, never giving locals the opportunity to comment on the location of the 3500sqm plaza.

“The concreting of a large section of a well-used and well-loved park, noted as an ‘oasis’ and ‘urban forest’ after 100 years of development, is a shocking proposal,” he tells premier Colin Barnett in a letter seeking higher intervention.

One of a number of resolutions from the public meeting was that the council abide by its own 2009 masterplan for the Esplanade, which supports a smaller skate plaza that is explicitly not on the Esplanade.

Mr Dowson also questions the process by which Convic was chosen to design and build the park.

Corporate services director Glen Dougall says the WA local government association’s eQuotes system was used.

“This system, used widely by WA councils for tenders, is a process managed by WALGA which uses a preferred list of suppliers that are vetted and selected through a tender process based on quality and value,” he says.

“As the design and construction of youth plazas is a highly specialised area, Convic were the sole WALGA preferred supplier that met the requirements of the project.” WALGA says eQuotes is a web-based tool that only WALGA members can access while “providing complete transparency and control over all aspects of purchasing”.

by CARMELO AMALFI