Mayor slams Piazza vandalism
The ‘‘abhorrent’’ vandalism of the Caroline Bay Piazza elevator is expected to cost $60,000 to repair and may mean it is out of action for several months.
It is understood vandals broke into the Piazza lift plant room last weekend and caused severe damage to electrical circuit board panel and the hydraulic electrical system.
The door mechanism at the base of the lift was also severely damaged.
A large amount of diesel was also dumped into the Piazza fountain, risking major environmental damage and incurring a significant clean-up bill.
Timaru District Mayor Damon Odey said that the council was working with police to identify the culprits, and would welcome any leads that the community could provide.
"This kind of intentional, abhorrent behaviour is absolutely unacceptable,’’ Odey said.
‘‘At the end of the day it is taking something from everyone in the community and landing them with a large bill in the process.
‘‘The lift is an important way for people with mobility issues and people with small children in prams to access Caroline Bay from the city centre and it’s particularly galling that some people think it’s okay to take this away for a bit of fun.’’
He said if the vandalism wasn’t enough, pouring diesel into the fountain showed a ‘‘complete disregard for the special environment of the bay’’.
‘‘If any diesel had escaped the fountain it would have gone straight into the stormwater system and
from there into the bay. ‘‘We’ll be working with the police to find out who was behind this, and we’d call on the community to share any information they may have.’’
Timaru woman Patricia Braggins, who reported the vandalism to the council, said the damage bared the hallmarks of a planned attack.
‘‘They’ve made a real mess of it. Someone or some people have gone out there and planned this. I really hope they find the people who did this,’’ Braggins said.
‘‘Quite a few people, especially
older people, will be affected by this. Lots of people use the lift.’’
Odey said an initial inspection of the lift by the manufacturing company has shown that if they can’t obtain the parts for the electrical circuit board due to its age and software running on it, then they would have to obtain these parts from Europe.
‘‘This could take up to 22 weeks to obtain the parts then three weeks to assemble and install and test the circuit board and software. If the circuit board has to be replaced then we are looking at a cost of up to $60,000.’’