Pāpāmoa East lifeguard tower vandalised overnight, urine and faecal matter found

Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·

2 Jan, 2023 12:45 AM2 mins to read

The Pāpāmoa East lifeguard tower was allegedly vandalised overnight. Photo / Supplied

Burnt furniture, “smashed” glass, urine, and faecal matter were found by lifeguards this morning after the Pāpāmoa East tower was allegedly vandalised overnight.

Surf Life Saving NZ’s Eastern Region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said the door had been “ripped off”, furniture had been set alight, and “smashed” plastic perspex glass was “all over the place”.

Police confirmed they received a report of wilful damage at the lifeguard tower and it was being assessed.

Gibbons-Campbell said it was the second incident in three days after a pair of binoculars was allegedly stolen from the Tay St tower in Mount Maunganui on December 30.

“Thankfully, it [the tower] wasn’t damaged.”

Police had not received any information regarding the Mount incident.

Surf Life Saving NZ’s Eastern Region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said the tower's furniture had been set on fire. Photo / Supplied

Gibbons-Campbell said he received a call from Pāpāmoa lifeguards this morning about the incident at the tower by Taylor Reserve.

The lifeguards tried to clean up urine and faeces found throughout the tower as best they could, he said.

“But they’re obviously not keen on cleaning up people’s faecal matter, which I don’t expect them to.

“I think the urinating and defecating is another step too far as well — I think that’s quite disgusting actually.”

The Pāpāmoa East lifeguard tower was allegedly vandalised overnight. Photo / Supplied

As a result of the incident, Gibbons-Campbell said the lifeguards would have to do their viewings and observations from the beach so there would be “limited visibility” along that particular stretch of coastline.

“They’re without a tower down there at the moment and we’re not going to be able to get that repaired so we’ll probably have to get the tower taken out altogether actually.

“And then obviously our lifeguards, in the elements there’s nowhere for them to shelter.”

He said lifeguards would be doing “roaming patrols” throughout the day. They were also looking at using a spare tower to patrol the area.

“Hopefully we’ll be back up and running by the middle of the week.”

He asked people in the area to “remain vigilant” and if they saw people in and around their infrastructure to call the police.

A police spokeswoman said they received a report of wilful damage at the Pāpāmoa East lifeguard tower and the file was being assessed. There have been no arrests so far.