Official approval has been given to Rotorua's skateboarding, rollerblading and rollerskating community to ride through the central city on the new Green Corridor.
Members of the Rotorua Lakes Council voted unanimously to alter the council's General Bylaw 2011, that previously banned skateboards and skaters from the entire central business district, to allow skaters to ride on the corridor.
The move has delighted members of Rotorua's Sulphur City Steam Rollers roller derby team who had been lobbying the council to allow skaters back into the city.
Steam Rollers spokeswoman Layla Robinson said they intended to set a good example for younger users of the corridor.
"When we first heard about the Green Corridor our league was absolutely thrilled that Rotorua would be joining some of the most vibrant cities in the world by allowing 'all wheel access' to the CBD.
"A few of our members went along to the meeting and hearing some of the concerns by councillors was interesting, particularly the few negative comments that circulated which referred to 'young people' taking advantage of the corridor and potentially causing havoc.
"As a 37-year-old woman who votes, pays tax and rollerskates, I would have liked to have told them the Green Corridor will be of great use to people of all ages.
"However I didn't need to, as councillors Karen Hunt, Charles Sturt, Dave Donaldson and Janet Wepa basically said it for me," Mrs Robinson said.
The changes allow skateboards - defined under the bylaw as "a wheeled device controlled or propelled by gravity or by muscular energy of the rider, including rollerskates, in-line skates, or similar recreational devices" - to ride through the city on the Green Corridor only.
Skaters will still be banned from everywhere else in the central city.
Even though they voted to go ahead with the bylaw change councillors Glenys Searancke and Peter Bentley questioned council staff about the changes.
Mrs Searancke said the change was "fraught with danger for pedestrians" and other users.
Mr Bentley said he was concerned that skaters and cyclists would abuse the privilege.
The Green Corridor is shared cycling, skating and pedestrian path through the city which runs from Kuirau Park through to the Government Gardens and is currently under construction.
The New Zealand Transport Agency is funding $227,000 of the estimated $397,000 project cost, with the council stumping up $170,000.
The council is planning an official opening day for the Green Corridor project, which will include a carnival in Kuirau Park, on Saturday July 18.