General News
19 November, 2023
Mindless morons - Vandalism costing community dearly
Vandalism is on the rise in Horsham, Horsham Rural City Council is telling residents. And it comes at an increasingly high cost, not only to ratepayers, but also through delays to other projects and dragging council outdoor staff away from their...
Vandalism is on the rise in Horsham, Horsham Rural City Council is telling residents.
And it comes at an increasingly high cost, not only to ratepayers, but also through delays to other projects and dragging council outdoor staff away from their usual schedules.
Council's urban infrastructure manager Michael Mackley said it was extremely disappointing that some people had little regard for community assets and property and wilfully damaged and defaced them.
"It needs to stop,” Mr Mackley said.
"This results in huge cost and adds expense for ratepayers.
“If there wasn’t vandalism, the projects we enjoy doing and that have positive outcomes would be completed much sooner.
“For example, we're currently installing seats near Kurrajong Lodge nursing home, pontoons at Riverside and repairs to the Apex Island bridge.
"These projects would all be completed by now if we didn’t have to clean up after vandalism.”
Removing graffiti also resulted in increased work for council staff, he said.
Mr Mackley was speaking after an incident which caused $15,000 in damage to a recently renovated amenities block in Horsham Botanic Gardens.
Six toilets were wrecked, a hand-dryer cover was ripped off the wall and a defibrillator was dismantled and thrown into the gardens.
Vandals used rocks to inflict more damage.
“We have used our back-up supply to get two of the cubicles operational but have to order in items to repair the remaining four," Mr Mackley said.
“We will have these repaired as soon as possible."
Mr Mackley said recent installation of CCTV cameras had lessened vandalism at the Natimuk Road skate park but vandalism was on the increase in areas without CCTV.
“It’s not only the cost of the repairs, but responding to graffiti and vandalism means our staff have to be taken away from their usual work," he said.
"This also damages our reputation in the eyes of tourists who visit our city and botanic gardens."
Council has formally reported the damage to Horsham Police and asks people who can assist to call 5382 9200.
“We need your assistance to apprehend the perpetrators of these malicious acts so that we can hopefully put an end to any further incidents,” Mr Mackley said.
“Vandalism is an issue everywhere, but that does not mean that we should accept it here in our city.”