Vandalism costs spiral for Waipā ratepayers

Fire damage in a Leaming Domain cubicle. Photo / Supplied

Increasing vandalism to Waipā's public facilities has seen a surge in repair costs for council's community services team, which has to deal with the cleanup.

Damage to toilets, hand dryers, changing rooms, and barbecue tables were amongst some facilities assets frequently damaged over the last four months, highlighted at Waipā District Council's Strategic Planning and Policy meeting today.

Council's acting community services manager, Brad Ward, said the increase in tagging and vandalism to Waipā public facilities was concerning.

"Our staff and contractors take pride and put immense effort into making our district look good and creating spaces our community can enjoy and be proud of. This type of unwanted behaviour and seeing our hard work going to waste is extremely disheartening," Brad said.

From September to December, the stream of reported damage includes: smashed ceramic bowl at Thornton Rd toilet over Christmas, BBQ stolen from Ngā Roto, hand dryer and sink pulled off the wall at Te Awamutu Event Centre toilets, Kihikihi Domain changing rooms were broken into causing damage to doors and fencing, and Kaniwhaniwha Reserve toilets were damaged and graffitied.

The vandalism has continued into the new year with fires lit in several toilets and playgrounds and the brand-new gate at Bulmer's Landing damaged from being forced open.

"Most of the toilets in the district are being regularly graffitied and the reckless vandalism of destroying and damaging amenities in public toilets is unfortunately increasing."

Brad noted recent vandalism appeared to be more targeted and repetitious, with recently removed graffiti or repairs often hit again merely days later.

"The basin in the toilets at the Cambridge Skatepark has been ripped off seven times now and these types of cumulative costs are expensive. The hand dryer stolen from the Franklin St toilets in Pirongia was $1000 to replace the unit, let alone the cost to reinstall."

Damaged sink at Cambridge Skatepark. Photo / Supplied.

Brad warned that the increasing repairs were preventing proactive general maintenance from being undertaken as the cost was taken from the existing annual renewals and maintenance budgets.

"Our residents are the ones missing out at the end of the day as we need to undertake these repairs, often to the detriment of keeping our parks and reserves in top shape."

In an effort to combat known vandalism hotspots, council has progressed a park security improvement project for Pukemako Reserve, Gaslight Theatre in Cambridge, Te Awamutu Cemetery and Bulmer's Landing with more-frequent monitoring and upgrades taking place.

Pukemako Reserve's front gate is now closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in an effort to deter unwanted behaviour, however, Ward reported the large strainer post was snapped on the first night as someone attempted to enter or exit the reserve. Speed bumps have also been installed at Pukemako as part of the security project, with additional sites to follow once pavement repairs have occurred.

Additional aspects of the project including new gates, bollards and cameras are experiencing delays largely due to product availability and ensuring council can achieve remote access for real-time monitoring of the cameras.

Ward said the vandalism not only affected ratepayers, but the stress was mounting on neighbouring residents who are also fed up having to deal with the issues and impacts of this behaviour.

"We're calling on the community of Waipā to be vigilant about reporting seen damage and speak to your families and friends about respecting our facilities. This type of activity is demoralising for all of us and we need it to stop."

Councillors hope changes to the Waipā District Public Places Bylaw 2018 to restrict antisocial driving and giving police more capacity to enforce rules will limit reckless drivers from vandalising public places like Pukemako Reserve and Bulmer's Landing.

Residents who spot vandalism in progress should call police on 111 and pass on identifying details such as number plates and vehicle descriptions. Alternatively, if offenders are no longer on site, the information can be passed to the police non-urgent 105 number and website www.police.govt.nz.