Vandalism at Upper Natone Reserve

Published on 20 October 2020

Council were extremely disappointed to learn that the Upper Natone Reserve was vandalised over the weekend. 

Burnie City Council Mayor Steve Kons said “The green grassed picnic and bbq areas have been churned up by vehicles and reduced to mud; Council estimate that these areas will be unable to be accessed by the public for quite a while as they are rehabilitated. 

“For the volunteers who put in hours of their free time to keep this reserve looking its best throughout the year, it was a feeling of dismay as they woke to the news and then the sight of the vandalism.” 

Fiona Tustian, long-time member of the Upper Natone Reserve Special Committee said “Community members, reserve users and the general public have been expressing their outrage at this vandalism. There has also been an outpouring of appreciation for our beautiful reserve along with appreciation for our small group of volunteers and the work they do. 

“Our volunteers spend many hours looking after the reserve. They turn up every weekend on a rostered system to carry out general maintenance like cleaning the area, picking up rubbish, checking the walking track barbecue areas shelters and play equipment and clean the toilet facility and organize working bees. 

“Our dedicated volunteers are very passionate about our beautiful reserve and are gutted when this kind of reckless vandalism occurs. 

“It makes me very sad when I hear people tell me they were ‘too frightened’ to visit the reserve due to this unacceptable behavior.” 

The incident has been reported to the police.