Parkes Shire Council is disappointed to announce that there has been a number of vandalism incidents reported over the past few months within the Parkes Shire, with the latest incident occurring last week.
Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith said, "I was incredibly disappointed to see the latest damage caused to the turf at the Parkes Skate Park, which has been ripped up by a motor vehicle."
In addition to the incident at the Skate Park last week, there has been a number of recently reported incidents at Harrison Park, with damage to the fencing and sprinklers and at Keast Park, with damage to the picket fencing, as well a 100-metre strip of turf being ripped up.
"Over the past few months, there has been eight vandalism incidents within the community of Parkes, which has cost Council $5,000 in repairs to fix the damage caused. This senseless destruction also comes at a cost to our community, impacting our ratepayers.
"The cost to the community is not only monetary, it also affects access to services. Council has to close areas 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," said Cr Keith.
The money spent to repair the damage that has been caused, could be better spent on other parts of the community.
"Council has a zero-tolerance policy for this sort of behaviour. I urge anyone who has any information regarding these vandalism incidents to contact the Parkes Police," concluded Cr Keith.
