Breaking point in sight for local club
THE head of a Townsville cricket club says volunteers are at “breaking point” after enduring months of cleaning up after the hoons tearing up their fields.
Townsville Western Suburbs Cricket Club (WSCC) has been plagued with ongoing issues of vandalism and hoons ruining the pitch where they play at Cutheringa Park.
WSCC president Peter Raffles said volunteers woke up to find a stolen car had ripped up the grass and got dumped at the park on Monday.
He said the grass still hadn’t grown back since the last incident where another hoon left the field “ripped to bits” on October 16 last year.
“It was four days before the club was to host the North Queensland vs. Central Queensland under 20s rep game,” Mr Raffles said.
“Council had to go lay out some dirt and our volunteers went out there to make sure it was at least level for the game.
“The grass still hasn’t grown back. It’s devastating because a lot of work goes into getting a cricket pitch ready.”
He said volunteers were left to clean up the mess after an attempted break-in at their clubhouse on December 24, 2022. “All our volunteers are tired, we’re doing the best we can to rebuild after Covid-19 and we keep getting hit,” Mr Raffles said.
“Two weeks ago, we found a dagger knife in the grass where the kids play and we’re also finding syringes all around the place.
“People are exhausted. We’ve had enough.
“We’re at the point of walking away.”
Mr Raffles said the crime problems in Townsville were progressively getting worse over time.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” he said. “My son’s car was also stolen recently and the panel beater said he’s in for a long wait to get it back because there are 100 other stolen cars ahead of his.”