IT’S disappointing when any piece of public infrastructure is vandalised.
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It’s more disappointing when the facility is aimed at children and worse still when the vandalism itself is not age-appropriate.
At last Tuesday’s Orange City Council meeting, councillor Jason Hamling asked if they could talk about parasites.
When he elaborated to talk about the graffiti to the skate park, it was evident how he felt about the vandals, and rightly so.
Cr Hamling then asked for the council to investigate installing CCTV cameras for the park to guard against future attack.
CCTV definitely has its uses.
We know that many offenders have been identified as culprits using footage from the offences, and then successfully prosecuted in court.
When the United service station was robbed last year, police used CCTV to track the offenders’ movements until they were able to identify and arrest them.
It would be hoped that prospective offenders, knowing an area is under surveillance, would take that as a deterrent.
But CCTV is only one measure available to keep the public feeling safe.
The other measure, which needs to be implemented far more widely, is lighting.
Summer Street is well-lit at night and most of the time, a person can feel safe walking through.
Central parts of Byng, Anson and Sale streets are similar.
But in most other cases, once you leave the main street, it gets very dark very fast.
That counts for public car parks as well.
For someone on their own, leaving work after dark, which is pretty common in winter, the trip to the car can feel a little uneasy.
Perhaps that’s why many people who work in the CBD are reluctant to park in surrounding residential streets rather than in the timed zones – they simply feel safer that way.
It’s not just a matter of perception – it’s reasonably common to see unsavoury types in dark areas after the goes down.
Trees can be a problem where they block out street lighting, but there are options to mount lighting in the trees – there’s even research under way to make trees bio-luminescent.
It is encouraging to see the council applying for state government funding for lighting in the CBD, it’s a good first step.
But for the CBD to function the best it can, it needs to extend past the main street.