PINE bollards will be installed around Mount Gambier’s Mel Hirth Lookout after hoon driving left significant damage on grassland overlooking the iconic Blue Lake.
Mount Gambier City Council staff have been left to clean up the deep tyre marks and have confirmed traffic diversion methods will be used to deter future incidents.
“These are probably the worst we have seen in a while,” council infrastructure manager Nick Sele said yesterday.
“This is not the first time it has happened there which is why we have decided to put the bollards in.
“We just want people to do the right thing because it does cost us time and money.”
Repair plans include filling in the tracks and re-seeding the grassed area.
“It is a tourism icon and we need people to do the right thing and not destroy the grass,” Mr Serle said.
While not deemed a large financial outlay, Mr Serle said bollards had not previously been installed because of aesthetic impacts.
“We would like to remind people to do the right thing,” he said.
“If someone does see a person do the wrong thing we would also appreciate them reporting it to police because it is right along the side of our biggest tourism icons and is not the image we want to be projecting.
“It is just frustrating and is a lot of work.”
Mount Gambier Police officer in charge Senior Sergeant Chris King said the incident had not been report to police, but encouraged witnesses to come forward.
“We would encourage anyone who witnesses such behaviour to the report the incident on 131 444 or lodge a traffic complaint online,” Snr Sgt King.
“Misuse of a vehicle is not only antisocial but puts the lives of those engaged in the practice and the public in danger.
“Penalties for misuse of a vehicle include being fined, losing your licence and having your vehicle impounded.”
It is the second significant act of vandalism on a council-maintained asset in as many weeks following a spate of graffiti along the Mount Gambier Railway Lands over the Easter long weekend.
