The owner of the Esplanade ferris wheel has been told to move a few metres north to make room for the skate park.

A sticking point is who will foot the $100,000 to $150,000 cost to dismantle, shift and reassemble the 46m-high, 160-tonne wheel a little closer to Fishing Boat Harbour.

Skyview’s Hendrik Dijstra has already spent $900,000 erecting the wheel on the same site of a bigger wheel that moved to Sydney in March.

His lease expires in October 2014 and he’s been told if he moves the wheel at his own expense he’ll get a two-year extension. If he says no, the extension’s off the table.

Mayor Brad Pettitt reckons the wheel shouldn’t affect construction deadlines for the skatepark: “It just means we will build it in stages.”

“Obviously, I’m not happy,” Mr Dijstra says. “Moving these wheels around is very expensive.

“We don’t have the money to pay for it, so we have a problem.

“I will wait until the mayor can find a solution.

He insists the council gave the all-clear for the current site, which is just metres from a mound where digging for the skatepark is scheduled to start later this year. “What wasn’t made clear to the city at the time is that the new wheel is completely different to the old one in that it is not easily movable,” council CEO Graeme Mackenzie counters.

“The old wheel was easily and cheaply relocated so it wasn’t a major consideration. We are currently negotiating with Hendrik for the wheel to be moved.”

by CARMELO AMALFI