Raglan Councillor Clint Baddeley is concerned about the theft of safety equipment from Raglan Wharf.
Clint said, “As a Council we’ve done about as much as we can do. We’d now like support from the Raglan Community on keeping the equipment in place and working”.
Waikato District Mayor, Allan Sanson told Raglan 23 that damaging or removing the life preservers at Raglan Wharf is placing the community in danger. He says in the past Council has installed a number of items to improve public safety at the wharf, only to have them stolen or vandalised soon after.
Allan extremely disappointed by this and said, “Our priority is to provide safe areas for our communities and their families to use. In this particular scenario we are challenged by the public’s use of an operational wharf so where we can, we’ve taken steps to provide a safe environment.
“Unfortunately some people are placing the community, their families and friends at risk by removing these items. For example, after last July drowning, we installed a safety chain at the end of Dolphin Pier and added a number of solar cat’s eyes along the western entrance to the wharf.
“They’ve all been removed – actually no, they’ve been stolen!
“It’s disappointing for a number of reasons. Not only does this put people at risk, but the additional installation and replacement costs need to be passed on to ratepayers.”
Mayor Allan says Council and the Raglan community need to work together to overcome the issue.
“We need residents to be vigilant around the wharf, report any suspicious activity to Police or let us know if any safety items go missing. We’re also working with tenants and commercial operators because first and foremost, this is a working wharf and we need to mindful of their activity.”
Council contractors installed a permanent barrier at the end of the dolphin pier on Wednesday. Before the end of the year warning signs will go up. In 2015, the Council will investigate options for emergency call facilities and lighting.