Community
7 November, 2024
Port recreation is no walk in park
The question of a dog area in Hutchings Park, Craiglie, has recently been discussed again after the idea was dropped four years ago.
It would appear, however, that the option for an off-leash dog section is the least of the problems that this much-loved local park is facing.
Local residents in the Port Gardens area of the Douglas Shire have recently been disappointed by the misuse of the park, a popular recreational facility for dog walkers and families, especially those with children.
The ‘Goss’ reported back in December of 2022 about illegal trail bike riders churning up the grass, leaving rubber tyre tracks in the barbecue area and generally being a noise nuisance around the Port Gardens residential area. While this issue seems to have reduced in recent months, there are now more ongoing concerns with a number of other unwelcome park users who mistreat the park in different ways.
Firstly, on a regular monthly basis, there is a large group that use the barbecue facilities, while at the same time playing fairly loud music with karaoke. The eventful evening appears to be well coordinated with an MC controlling the proceedings and spruiking up the singing. While this does not appear to be a legitimate event and often continues through until about 8.30pm, those involved, to be fair, seem to clear up and cause no damage to the facilities.
Secondly, and sadly, there are other groups that enjoy an evening of music, together with food and alcohol and leave the area in a very poor state with bottles, broken glass and melted plastic stuck to the barbecue tops. These events are prone to carry on some way into the night.
Thirdly and, even more concerningly, there are the small groups of individuals who visit the park, generally well into the early hours of the morning. Clearly alcohol-fuelled, it appears their main intention is to cause damage and destruction. Locals describe the offenders as aged between mid-to-late teens.
Local residents with children, together with dog walkers are, not only concerned about the mindless criminal damage visible in their park on a weekly basis, but nearby park users also worry about the safety aspect with the level of smashed glass, adjacent to the children’s playground.
Police are aware of the situation and advise locals to ring ‘triple zero’ whenever there is any concern about activity in the park. Maybe the new approach from our political leaders of ‘adult crime, adult time’ will assist in the reduction of this abuse for these and other facilities.
But there’s more. Just at the time of writing this week’s ‘Goss’, I was notified by one local resident that somebody had now started using the park bins for household rubbish. These bins are normally intended for dog walkers and barbecue waste.
Thankfully, the vast majority of the general public love, enjoy and help to protect our much-loved parkland.
I’m off to walk the dog, hopefully without issue, so for now it’s Gazza signing out.
Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
