Shellharbour councillors have labelled a spate of vandalism at public spaces across the city as "stupid", "foolish" and costly to all ratepayers across the city.
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In the past three weeks, about $20,000 works on damage has been done to playgrounds, pools and sport fields across the city, prompting councillors to ask staff to investigate ways to stop the damaging behaviour.
Mayor Marianne Saliba was particularly incensed by the recent damage to the Croome Road Regional Sporting Complex, which is estimated to cost $10,000.
People ought to wake up to themselves. The damage they [have done] is money that could be well spent on other parts of our community.
"The sad reality is that we're providing open spaces for our community, and then we're having to lock them up," she said "They should be available to our community for their use, not just for organised sport but for other opportunities as well, like walking or dog walking.
"These stupid people are part of our community, and if they're not contributing to the upkeep of these facilities then members of their family or their friends are.
"People ought to wake up to themselves. The damage they [have done] is money that could be well spent on other parts of our community."
Other damaged recently include Beverley Whitfield pool and Village Green in Flinders, with hand basins and toilets broken, skylights smashed, goalposts destroyed and log rail fences smashed by heavy vehicles across the three sites.
The council is also having to repair tyre marks in sport fields, knocked over signs, broken doors and and graffiti, and highlighted that the costs are not just monetary.
"The cost to the community is not only monetary, it affects access to services," council chief Carey McIntyre said.
"Council has to close areas while to undertake repairs and it diverts staff from other works. People of all ages are inconvenienced and it can make some people in the community feel unsafe."
He said the vandalism usually occurs between dusk and dawn and often on weekends; security guards have been working with council staff and police to secure the sites after hours.
This latest spate is more than the usual amount of vandalism at this time of year, he said.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, Cr Kellie Marsh said she was disheartened by the damage, and asked staff to look into whether CCTV cameras could be installed at the Croom sporting complex
"This is happening too often," she said. "It is a cost for council and a burden on our local sporting clubs."
Other councillors agreed that something needed to be done about the issue, but were hesitant about the installation of CCTV.
Instead, Labor councillor John Murray asked that staff investigate all options for stopping vandals.
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