Ratepayers and sporting clubs continue to foot the bill for vandalism

Cairns Mayor Amy Eden has once again condemned the escalating costs of vandalism and youth crime across the city, highlighting the unsustainable financial cost to ratepayers and the emotional toll on sporting clubs, volunteers, and small business.

Over the past two months (October and November), the cost to repair senseless vandalism at Council assets skyrocketed to $105,000.

That’s on top of the cost to sporting clubs and businesses. If this continues, projects will have to be re-prioritised and service levels may slip as crews are redeployed to urgent repair jobs.

"We are seeing record-high levels of vandalism at council facilities, grassroots sporting clubs, and small businesses,” Mayor Eden said.

“This is a disgrace and it’s completely unsustainable. By the end of this financial year, unbudgeted costs from damage and repairs will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Mayor Eden emphasised the direct impact on ratepayers, pointing out that money spent on repairing damage to public facilities could have otherwise funded vital community improvements, such as playground upgrades, park enhancements, and sporting infrastructure.

Walker Road Sporting Precinct and other facilities targeted

The Walker Road Sporting Precinct was hit again over the weekend, with tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

Vandals destroyed council’s security camera in the car park, rendering it unusable until repairs are completed.

Additionally, Mulgrave Cricket Club facilities were broken into, with a wall breached, keys stolen, and further attempts made to access electrical controls and disable security systems.

"At Walker Road, volunteers and club members are at such a desperate point they stayed overnight to guard their facility and I know other clubs and facilities are considering doing the same thing,” Mayor Eden said.

“It’s heartbreaking to see club members and volunteers, who give so much of their time, burdened with this additional stress."

Other recent incidents include damage to the Edmonton Storm clubhouse at Petersen Park, where vandals smashed glass doors, damaged locks, and lit fires near council amenities. Act for Kids in Edmonton also reported an attempted break-in over the weekend.

Council’s commitment to addressing the crisis

Mayor Eden reiterated Council’s current commitment to doing everything it can to address the youth crime crisis through both immediate and long-term solutions:

“Cairns Regional Council and our ratepayers already spend over $5 million annually on security and community safety measures - far more than we should be doing in this space. We need to see a reduction in youth crime so we can reduce our spending on the repair jobs.”“I am continuing to fight for funding relief from the State Government to help us manage the immediate impacts of this crisis while they work on implementing new laws and programs.”“We are organising a youth crime roundtable with key State Ministers and agencies to push for immediate action and collaboration on this issue.”“I remain in regular contact with Cairns Police Chief Superintendent Kevin Fitzgibbon to explore what the police can do in the short term to mitigate these ongoing attacks.”“Other measures undertaken by Council include a trial that involves a police officer based in our CitySafe CCTV camera room, which is achieving great results. We’ve partnered with Ports North to upgrade security at the waterfront dining precinct and we’ve upgraded lighting on Lake St, with a full CBD lighting audit underway to make further improvements. These are just some of the actions Council is taking to improve community safety. But it is unsustainable and unfair for ratepayers when crime and community safety is primarily a State responsibility.”

Mayor Eden thanked Premier David Crisafulli for his prompt response to her letter calling for more support, with Mr Crisafulli vowing to work together with Council on this crime crisis.

"We need action, support and results now,” Mayor Eden said.

“Our community is fed up. The hard-working volunteers and ratepayers of Cairns deserve better."