Whanganui District Council grapples with vandalism across multiple public sites

In March, Deputy Mayor Helen Craig called parts of Pukenamu Queen's Park "really shabby". Photo / Mike Tweed

Vandalism across multiple council sites in Whanganui has been branded as “cowardly”, with cameras going up to stop antisocial behaviour.

Whanganui District Council chief infrastructure officer Lance Kennedy said it was the community, not the council, that suffered when sites were damaged.

“I’m talking about sports parks, playgrounds, public toilets and other public open-access areas.”

Speaking at the council’s operations and performance committee on July 31, Kennedy said the council was working with police and installing CCTV.

“But it is hugely annoying.

“This cowardly behaviour needs to stop. It is unacceptable and the council won’t tolerate it.”

A report from council parks and property manager Tania Henare said over the past 12 months, there had been at least 16 grass sites affected by vandalism from vehicles.

“The damage makes the area unmowable for contractors, causes slip and trip hazards for users, detracts from visual amenity and creates a feeling of a lack of safety for neighbouring residents,” it said.

“These repairs require the use of machinery, added soil, grass seed and hours of labour, all adding unnecessary cost to our ratepayers.”

Her report said the council had also noticed fence damage in parks and green spaces.

Henare said the Aramoho Cemetery had been damaged by vehicles twice recently.

“In some areas, we can consider more cameras, of course,” she said.

“But we can’t create a city of cameras on every corner and fences everywhere,” she said.

“We haven’t got the answer to that problem yet but we will ask the community to help us, to report when they are seeing this antisocial behaviour.”

Whanganui District Council chief infrastructure officer Lance Kennedy. Photo / NZME

On July 29, the council reported that a pipe and toilet at Springvale Park had been broken, with the toilet stuffed full of paper.

It then “overflowed with sewage and leaked out the door”.

“This was the only open toilet, after the main block was locked back in early May due to ongoing vandalism,” the council said.

“A decision has been made to lock all the Springvale Park toilets entirely until we can find a solution that will help prevent this kind of damage from happening again.”

Plant thefts at Bason Botanic Gardens and Rotokawau Virginia Lake’s Winter Gardens were reported in January and March, respectively.

Henare’s report said the installation of CCTV appeared to have stopped further thefts.

She told the committee a camera had been installed at the Durie Hill lookout after reports of antisocial behaviour, and the lookout tower may be locked at night to prevent damage.

In April, Deputy Mayor Helen Craig said the grounds at Pukenamu Queen’s Park looked “really shabby”, with vehicles doing “wheelies” next to its memorial cenotaph.

Cars were also climbing the kerb and parking on the grass.

Henare’s report said there had been planting and installation of planter boxes on the city side of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery to prevent vehicles from accessing the area containing the cenotaph and Handspan peace sculpture.

Resource consent conditions for more tree planting had also been confirmed, it said.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.