Dear resident

You may have seen some of the recent damage vandals have done to our City.

Parks torn up by trail and e-bikes. Sports fields destroyed by cars. Cricket pitches ruined by fire. The public toilets at Greenacre Splash Park smashed and graffiti-ed. Our brand-new Deepwater Pump Track damaged and the plants around it ripped up. 

Incidents like this mean that facilities must be closed for repairs costing thousands of dollars. The cost eating up funds that could be used in our community.

All too often, this damage is caused by young people. Recently, a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with using a 4WD to cause thousands of dollars-worth of damage at Kearns Oval, Bankstown.

Well, I am calling out these vandals! What you are doing is mindless, wasteful and cruel. You are destroying the things we love. Keeping kids from playing. Excluding the disabled from the facilities they need. Costing our community money.

I think it’s time for you to experience some tough love. I’ll be meeting with the NSW Premier Chris Minns urging him to consider tougher penalties for first-time offenders. I’ll also be suggesting that you do community service. You can help repair the damage you’ve caused, or work with Council staff – picking up litter, painting the lines on sports fields, mowing cricket pitches, cleaning public toilets, weeding plant beds. Learning how much work it takes every day to maintain the facilities you destroy in a moment of madness.

It’s time for change.

Warm regards

Mayor Bilal El-Hayek