Lives in danger after second surf club theft

Allan Mundy

The theft of essential surf lifesaving equipment has compromised search and rescue efforts in the Coromandel and Northern Bay of Plenty.

Last night, solar panels for the emergency radio network were stolen from the radio repeater site on the Whangamata peninsular.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Lifesaving Manager Allan Mundy said the theft was devastating.

"The replacement cost of the equipment is around $6,000, which is tough for a voluntary organisation, but it's not just the monetary value of the theft," he said.

"Due to the custom nature of the gear, it will take three to four weeks to construct the brackets needed to hold the panels onto the antenna site. This is going to severely compromise our lifeguarding operations over the busiest time of year, the Christmas holidays."

The site was set up about eight weeks ago and required a large truck and trailer and cherry picker to get the gear into place.

Mr Mundy said it must have taken a small group of people to undertake the theft and they must have been on site for a good couple of hours.

"Hopefully someone has seen something and can help us locate the missing equipment. If we can even just get those brackets back, then we can get the system up and running again as soon as possible," he said.

This comes just weeks after the theft of two quad bikes, newly installed radio equipment, a rescue board and some first aid gear from Pukehina Surf Rescue on December 2.

Contact Whangamata Police on (07) 858-6200 or phone the anonymous Crimestoppers number on 0800 555 111 if you have information about the theft.