Students impacted by callous vandalism
Vandalism is an ongoing issue for Whyalla City Council, but the latest incident has impacted the work of local school students.
About 50 students and staff from Whyalla Stuart Primary School and Samaritan College’s Saint Teresa’s Campus helped council and their community by planting native vegetation along the foreshore to preserve its future and prevent sand impacting nearby residents, view original release here.
Mayor Phill Stone said the vegetation had only been planted for several weeks before being callously ripped from the ground by vandals and left to die.
“I’m extremely disappointed for the students involved - it’s saddening to see the enthusiasm and pride these young students put into this project, only for it to be destroyed by senseless vandalism,'' Mayor Stone said.
“This thoughtless and unnecessary damage has overshadowed
the positive impact of their efforts and left the students, council and the community disheartened and frustrated.
“The damage has not only undone the hard work of the students, but also tarnished what was intended to be a lasting contribution to the local environment.”
LEFT: Project Manager Landscape Sam Bourne assists a Whyalla Stuart Primary School student to plant vegetation. RIGHT: Samaritan College students and staff with council staff during the recent planting.
Vandalism continues to be an ongoing issue for council, with the total cost of repairing damages expected to be in excess of $50,000 over the past 12 months, including hundreds of hours of council employee time spent repairing the damage. In addition to the damage at the foreshore, other major vandalism incidents include oil being deliberately dumped along Hummock Hill; continued repairs and reinstatement of bollards at Point Lowly; damage to foreshore light bollards; and signage damage across the city.
“Vandalism is a huge cost to the community – both financially and in time wasted by our staff dealing with these senseless acts,” Mayor Stone said.
’These funds and time could be better spent on projects that benefit the entire community, rather than repairing unnecessary damage caused by a few individuals.”
If anyone has any information about these incidents, or notices anything in the future, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, where you can provide anonymous information. We all need to play our part in curbing these incidents which are harming and costing our entire community.
Bollards at Point Lowly have been continually damaged by vandals. Photos supplied by Sharon Manfield.