(Photo: Aerial view of the skate park taken in mid-February before grass was planted)

The security fencing around the new skate park in Porritt Park is coming down today now that construction is finished and it will be fully available for use from tomorrow - 1 April. But for tomorrow only - please no skateboards.*

The ramps and other features are complete, but a new permanent picket fence being built around the skate and scooter park will not be finished until next week.

We're asking skate park users to please be considerate of the workers building the permanent fence and also to be courteous to the other users of Porritt Park, especially young children in the playground.

To celebrate the opening of the skate park, there will be a family-friendly launch party on Saturday 6 May. There will be a sausage sizzle, speeches, prizes and a skateboarding demonstration - everyone is welcome.

The skate park is the first of the Active Thames 2018 projects to be finished. The other project nearing completion is the indoor sports facility at Thames High School. This is expected to be completed in June and will realise the Thames community's long-held ambition of a two-court facility for joint school-community use that will allow sports programmes to expand to meet demand.

The other component of Active Thames 2018 is a proposal for multi-sport clubrooms at Rhodes Park. It is programmed for 2018/19 as part of the 2015-25 Long Term Plan, so this one is still in its early planning stages.

For more on Active Thames 2018, see www.tcdc.govt.nz/thamessportsfacilities

*Note: 1 April is known in many cultures as April Fools' Day, a day on which practical jokes are played and hoaxes are spread. We hope you have enjoyed ours. Of course skateboards may be used on the skate park on 1 April.

© Scoop Media