The leader of a local sports club fed up with vandalism costing tens of thousands of dollars has invited hooligans to take up sport instead of trashing the grounds.
Sports clubs including Springwood Suns Cricket Club, Underwood Netball Park Association, Loganholme Cricket Club, Springwood Pumas Australian Football and Slacks Creek Tigers have been increasingly targeted by vandalism, break-ins and thefts in the past year.
Illegal e-bike burnouts have damaged playing fields, security cameras have been broken, doors smashed, copper stolen and walls grafittied.
Springwood Suns president Steven Grey said the club had been particularly hard hit by teenagers repeatedly causing damage by riding their e-bikes on the cricket grounds, causing $12,000-$15,000 in damages in the past 12 months.
“Pretty much it’s the same people,” Mr Grey said.
“We’ve posted on Facebook and Instagram, and we’ve had local people tell us who it is.
“We pass that all on to the police and have police reports open. Nothing’s come back.
“We have members of the club who are in the police as well, and they’re all saying they’re trying to do what they can do, but it’s tough.”
Mr Grey said he was hopeful new laws on illegal e-bikes coming into force on 1 July would help — but called for more policing and greater support.
“First of July, things change. Those become illegal. Let’s see what happens,” he said.
He said the situation had worsened over the past 12 months.
“You can be here at the club, and they come right round the corners really fast, and if they don’t know you’re there, and if you stepped out in front of them, you’d be knocked over.”
“ How we’ve not had anyone hit, I don’t know. They’re always around here and they don’t care. You have a conversation with them, say, “Please don’t do this”, but they don’t care.”
“You know, we would love to have the kids, those vandals, down here at the club and actually learning how to play the game and enjoying the game,” Mr Grey said.
“They might actually find that there’s stuff that they really like, and suddenly, they’ve got something to do in their spare time instead of smashing things up and destroying stuff that’s not theirs.
“Learn a bit of respect, and joining a great bunch of mates, and that’s what we see with all our kids. They form great friendships – that goes on for generations.”
Mr Grey called on the state government to provide greater support to Logan City Council.
He said Logan City Council were installing more cameras, but it wouldn’t be enough.
“Every single club in the area has the same needs [and] they don’t have that much money.
“We need to be able to have the cameras and the networks to be able to capture these people and actually effectively police it,” he said.
Loganholme Cricket Club president Scott Rice said he wanted more cameras and lighting, and for a way for the grounds to be locked and closed, particularly at Loganholme’s sports grounds at Tansey Park.
“ We’ve requested in the past that the park be locked at certain times,” he said.
But he said the State Government refused to close the park because it also provided access to the boat ramp at the end of Tansey Drive.Â
“ If they’re gonna keep the boat ramp open, they need to install more cameras down that way towards the boat ramp, and some type of lighting,” he said.
Member for Springwood Mick de Brenni has been working with local clubs on this issue, and is lobbying the State Government for stronger support for frontline police, and practical crime-prevention infrastructure in identified hotspots.
“Sporting clubs are run by volunteers and exist to bring people together, so it is incredibly disappointing to see community assets targeted in this way,” Mr de Brenni said.
‘Sporting clubs should be focused on supporting young people, families and volunteers, not repairing damage caused by vandals,” Mr de Brenni said.
Councillor Teresa Lane has said the issue had escalated in the past 6 years.
“Our sporting clubs and grounds are important community facilities, and it’s the ratepayers and sporting groups that wear the cost of repairs and replacement when items are damaged or stolen.”
“A motorbike ripping up a field can cost thousands of dollars and has stopped games from proceeding at local clubs. “
“Break-ins also have huge impacts on our clubs, which are forced to throw out open food in freezers for food safety reasons, costing them thousands of dollars.”
“We’ve even seen toilet blocks repaired and then damaged again on the same day.”
A Logan City Council spokesperson said there had been 50 incidents of damage to Logan City Council property in the past year in Divisions 1, 2 and 3, which stretches from Rochedale South, south to Kingston and Shailer Park.
“All incidents are taken seriously and we work closely with the Queensland Police Service to investigate,” the spokesperson said.
“Council also operates a state-of-the-art camera room, staffed by police and Council officers 24/7. The city’s 1400 camera network helps police respond more quickly to crimes happening in the community and better investigate incidents that have already occurred.”
“Approximately 30 new cameras are installed in the city annually, with many funded through Council’s Local Infrastructure Program or contributions from the state and federal governments.”
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