Waitomo District Council is disappointed with the extensive vandalism of Centennial sports field over Anzac weekend. The wilful damage has been reported to Police.

In August 2015, both the Ward St Reserve and Centennial sports field were vandalised in a similar destructive manner. The cost to repair the damage was $5,590.00 excl GST.

Council has invested in work to improve the drainage of surface water and to make the fields more user friendly for the community and winter sports teams.

Parklands Turf will be onsite this week to estimate what is involved in repairing the field including applying topsoil and rolling out the damaged turf areas.

The non-financial cost of wilful damage to public property is significant and should not be overlooked.

The people who choose to carry out vandalism acts are behaving in an anti-social, destructive way that is degrading the quality of local living. People expect good quality, safe local living. That is a basic expectation for any community and what encourages people to view Te Kuiti positively as a place to live, work and visit.

Group Manager Kobus du Toit says “It is very frustrating for Council and the community – to see this type of behaviour. It impacts on our delivery of services – mowing and maintenance, but it also affects the community. The local Winter sports season begins soon and the pitch damage impacts on the teams using the field.”

“At this stage we estimate that the field will be unusable for around 4-6 weeks”.

“We are seeking the support of the community to put a stop to vehicles accessing and causing damage to these community areas. We encourage people to call the Police immediately on 111 if they observe vandalism taking place.” Says Mr du Toit.