Councils want action on vandals

A SPATE of vandalism has both local councils up in arms over the waste of ratepayers’ money and the impact it is having on communities, and want more people to report incidents to police in a bid to stop the offenders.

Some of the vandalism of public facilities in Malanda.

The response follows the devastating damage caused over four consecutive nights in Malanda and last month’s vandalism of Mareeba’s new Bicentennial Lakes recreation area.

“The latest wave of damage has been relentless and we need the community to report suspicious and anti-social behaviour to the police,” Tablelands Deputy Mayor Dave Bilney said.

“Several toilet blocks have been graffitied, bricks torn from a dividing wall and our poor cleaners had to clean faecal matter smeared over a basin,” he said.

“Our Community Revegetation Nursery was broken into and fences and walls damaged.

“I’m devastated for the Malanda community and TRC staff because they are proud of their town and work hard to make it welcoming and attractive.

“We cleaned the mess and repaired what we could but this kind of destruction can cause areas to be perceived as unsafe or unwelcoming.

“Damage like this also diverts funding away from other, more positive projects and programs.

“I just hope these brazen acts don’t undermine our sense of pride and community spirit, but I’m sure if we band together we can help to address this poor behaviour.”

In Mareeba, Cr Kevin Davies said the damage over at the new Bicentennial Lakes precinct would be “so frustrating” for those workers responsible for its development.

“I really feel for them because they put a lot of effort into that, and to see what was done, over one weekend by some irresponsible people - it’s disheartening,” he said at a recent council meeting.

Council works manager Andrew Foster told the meeting that cleaning up acts of vandalism was a daily occurrence.

“It’s not a one-off incident. [The staff] generally start their working day by cleaning up vandalism and graffiti, and I totally agree, it’s soul destroying,” he said.

“One Saturday morning, when we were emptying the bins there, an officer’s ute window was smashed while he was there.”

Deputy Mayor Lenore Wyatt said the public needed to understand “that (everyone) pays for damaged public property”.

“They must have been at the park for a very long time to cause the damage they did. I’m positive someone must have seen them. We need people who live nearby to come forward and tell us what they see,” she said.

Chief executive officer Peter Franks added that the council always reported every incident to police but the general community was so used to it, they didn’t bother.

“They need to report any incident of crime to police. It might not get resolved, and we all know the police are understaffed and as a result they can’t get to these things, but it is critical to report so at least there is a record,” he said.

Cr Davies added the reports were evidence that crime was not improving.

“All these pollies go ‘it’s improved, its improved’. No, well if we report it, you see it’s not improving.”

Members of the public can report anti-social behaviour to the police by calling Policelink on 131 444 or go to police.qld.gov.au/policelink-reporting.