‘No more rate rise’ campaign costing the Stratford community

Stratford District Council (SDC) has seen its share of petty vandalism over time, but in recent years this poor form of self-expression has turned into threatening behaviour by some and it's costing our ratepayers.

District Mayor, Neil Volzke says SDC is extremely annoyed by the actions of a regular vandal (or vandals) who continue to contradict their own message. “Damaging public property will not result in a reduction in rates – it has the opposite effect, causing unnecessary costs to our ratepayers while staff and contractors clean up and fix the destruction,” he says.

“Whoever is responsible for the ‘No more rate rise’ vandalism has cost ratepayers around $13,000, and this could rise still,” says Mayor Volzke.

These costs don’t include the subsequent installation and operation of additional security cameras or staff time in response to the vandalism. The costs for work required to undo the most recent mess is only an estimate as work is still underway.

“The destruction of the water tank at Kopuatama Cemetery last week is hugely frustrating for all ratepayers, and disrespectful to those who are visiting the cemetery and require the use of these services,” says Mayor Volzke.

Because of these actions, the Kopuatama Cemetery could be without water and public toilets for a number of weeks.

“There are multiple avenues to express your views to Council, damaging public property is not one of them,” says Mayor Volzke.

“We’ve just completed a period of feedback on our draft Annual Plan - thank you to those who have taken their time to share their views through that process. Staff are contactable through email, phone, online forms, social media, the Antenno App, post, in person at our service centre - you name it you can use it to reach out to Council. Elected member contact details are on the website and we’re more than happy to discuss your concerns. We also have public forums monthly for those interested in getting their message across to all elected members at once.”

“There truly is no excuse to turn to destructive vandalism that creates an extra cost for our community,” he says.

SDC take these matters seriously and Police are involved. If you know who is responsible for this ongoing senseless vandalism please contact Police on 105 or confidentially through Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.

The list of vandalism to date that has had a ‘no more rates rise’ message includes: