Members of the Budgewoi community have been left fuming after the recently refurbished men’s toilet block at McKenzie Park was vandalised, after being reopened for less than 48 hours.
Central Coast Council has confirmed that its Building Maintenance Team completed an $80,000 refurbishment of the park’s facilities, of which the toilet block was a central part.
Works involved: Safe removal and disposal of asbestos ceilings and eaves sheeting; New doors and door jambs, including new latches fitted; New eaves and external cladding; Toilet pans and cisterns replaced; Improvements to roof structure and installation of new roof sheeting; Ceilings replaced in custom orb sheeting; New motion detection LED lighting installed; New epoxy floor and walls; and, internal and external painting, with the toilets reopened on Thursday, June 25.
But by Saturday morning, June 27, they’d been defaced, with community members finding the men’s block filled with graffiti.
Resident, John MacDonald, raised the alarm, posting photos of the vandalism in the Budgewoi Community Facebook page.
He believes local youths are to blame.
“Less than 48 hours, that’s all the time it took for Budgewoi youth to express how they feel about the hours of effort and the thousands of dollars of rate payers’ money that went into the renovation of the toilet block,” MacDonald wrote, when informing the group of his discovery.
His photos have sparked outrage amongst group members with many now calling for security cameras to be installed at the park to deter similar acts.
Council has also expressed its dismay at the callous act and at how quickly the revamped facility was defaced.
“It is extremely disappointing that this occurs in our community”, a council spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, it is a very common incident and as a result, our staff are working to remove the graffiti,” a council spokesperson said.
Residents can report graffiti to council via its website: www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/graffiti.
Source:
Social media, Jun 27
John MacDonald, Budgewoi Community
Media statement, Jul 6
Central Coast Council Media
Reporter: Dilon Luke