How a few vandals impact on our whole city

And just as we have phone apps that can do the most remarkable things and advanced computers the size of a stamp, so too do we have terrorism and corporate greed.

And, of course, there’s always sheer stupidity.

And as our front page today shows, Maitland is not exempt.

Maitland Council has had to fund a new fence around Metford Oval in a bid to thwart hooligans in their cars and motorbikes from tearing up the ground.

There’s no nice way to put it – vandals have trashed the ground time and again – and finally, council have had enough.

At a significant cost of $40,000, work has started on fencing the ground to keep cars and motorbikes off.

Sadly, the ground’s location is part of the problem. It has parkland on either side which is popular with bike riders who zoom across the ground as a short-cut, rather than ride around.

The result is a torn up ground where weekend sporting events have had to be cancelled in the past.

“It is unfortunate to have to do this but money has to be spent to keep people safe and to provide good resources in terms of parks and playing fields,” councillor Ben Whiting (left) said.

Council had to act, and we congratulate them for taking steps.

The irony is that even with fencing we can’t be sure it will be enough to keep idiots at bay. We can only cross our fingers and hope.

With all the work going on around town, this is money that could have been much better spent. It’s a not an unfamiliar story.

Only last week we had mayoral hopeful, councillor Brian Burke calling for CCTV in the city centre to help combat vandalism. He was speaking after trees had been torn up outside another of our local sporting venues, the No.1 Sportsground.

Maitland City Council has taken the bold step – unpopular, but probably necessary – of implementing seven years of rate rises to maintain and improve services to our growing city.

What a pity some of that money has to be wasted on fixing damage caused by people with no consideration for their fellow residents.