“As a community, we need to address what’s happening in our town. I feel for those who have to clean up after these senseless acts.”
Her comments come after the public toilets at Tulloch Park were smashed and human excrement plastered on the floor and walls on Wednesday night. A specialist bio-hazard cleaner had to be called in to clean up the mess.
In the past 12 months, vandals have:
- Broken all the glass in the Tulloch Park grandstand. It was replaced with acrylic panels.
- Broken all the glass at the tennis pavilion. It was replaced with acrylic panels.
- Broken most of the glass at the former pool. It has been covered with ply.
- Kicked in all the doors at the tennis pavilion, some of them twice.
- Broken uncovered glass and smashed clear-lite roofing sheets at the former pool.
- Damaged a Council-owned vacant house to the extent it has had to be completely boarded up.
- Damaged the fascia on the Mataura Library.
Senior Property Officer Neil Mair said the vandalism has cost Mataura ratepayers about $20,000.
“There are so many better ways the community board could have been spent that money.”
With over $1 million being invested in new public toilets, a splash pad and a basketball court at Tulloch Park, Mr Mair said he sincerely hoped the mindset of the vandals can be changed.
Mrs Coats called on residents to watch out for any suspicious activity.
“We (the community board) are committed to providing Mataura residents with services and assets they can be proud of. The last thing our community needs is vandals ruining what we have all worked so hard for.”
Mataura Community Board chairperson Nicky Coats has called out those responsible for ongoing vandalism in the town, saying it’s frustrating and costly for ratepayers.
“As a community, we need to address what’s happening in our town. I feel for those who have to clean up after these senseless acts.”
Her comments come after the public toilets at Tulloch Park were smashed and human excrement plastered on the floor and walls on Wednesday night. A specialist bio-hazard cleaner had to be called in to clean up the mess.
In the past 12 months, vandals have:
- Broken all the glass in the Tulloch Park grandstand. It was replaced with acrylic panels.
- Broken all the glass at the tennis pavilion. It was replaced with acrylic panels.
- Broken most of the glass at the former pool. It has been covered with ply.
- Kicked in all the doors at the tennis pavilion, some of them twice.
- Broken uncovered glass and smashed clear-lite roofing sheets at the former pool.
- Damaged a Council-owned vacant house to the extent it has had to be completely boarded up.
- Damaged the fascia on the Mataura Library.
Senior Property Officer Neil Mair said the vandalism has cost Mataura ratepayers about $20,000.
“There are so many better ways the community board could have been spent that money.”
With over $1 million being invested in new public toilets, a splash pad and a basketball court at Tulloch Park, Mr Mair said he sincerely hoped the mindset of the vandals can be changed.
Mrs Coats called on residents to watch out for any suspicious activity.
“We (the community board) are committed to providing Mataura residents with services and assets they can be proud of. The last thing our community needs is vandals ruining what we have all worked so hard for.”