AT least three bus stop shelters in Mornington have been vandalised with glass panes shattered across the pavement in what has been labelled as “disgraceful” behaviour. The affected bus shelters are located near the corner of Barkly St and Main St, and two along the Esplanade, one opposite Fossil Beach and the other near Mornington Park. The incidents, which occurred sometime between October 19 and October 20, have prompted concerns of risk to pedestrian safety and for more CCTV to be installed.
The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), which is responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure at the bus stops, said it had been made aware of the recent damage and were arranging for the shelters to be made safe ahead of any repairs. At the publishing, glass littering was cleaned up with hazard tape put up around the broken glass panels. It is not known whether all the incidents are connected.
“Public transport shelters provide comfort and protection from weather for passengers and it’s disappointing that the anti-social behaviour from a few people impacts the community,” a DTP spokesperson said. “We closely monitor vandalism across our bus shelters and take appropriate measures in response to repetitive instances. “We encourage anyone who witnesses vandalism at a bus shelter to report it immediately to the police.”
Mornington MP Chris Crewther said it was “disgraceful that people continue to damage our local infrastructure, like bus shelters, and invade people’s homes”. “There are just more examples of the growing crime rate we are seeing on the peninsula and across Victoria under the Labor Government.”
Mornington trader Paul Pingiario, who is standing for Tanti Ward in the upcoming council elections, said he saw locals cleaning up the mess at the bus shelter next to Mornington Park. “It’s mindless vandalism. Once you start tolerating one level of it, you open yourselves up to other levels of it,” he said, adding there must be a zero tolerance on graffiti and vandalism. “I think there’s a number of things we can do to look after our community and make sure that in busy main streets we do have CCTV cameras. “We also need to encourage youth services and engagement throughout the workforce.”
Mornington Peninsula Shire Briars ward councillor Anthony Marsh said it was “incredibly disappointing to see an increase in vandalism as we head into the warmer weather”. He said similar incidents had occurred of people trashing the beaches and leaving bottles around boat sheds adding “we’ve definitely seen more tagging” which was being cleaned up through the shire’s graffiti removal team.
The News reported two bus stops in June 2022 having been vandalised in Mornington (Bus shelters vandalised, The News 21/06/22) with locals concerned it was a repetitive issue. The DTP said repair works would be carried out by their contracted partner oOh!media, with scheduled monthly cleaning and a maintenance program in place for all bus shelters. The DTP encouraged people to contact Victoria Police when vandalism was observed. “All DTP bus shelter infrastructure includes an asset identification sticker that details a phone number for the public to report faults including vandalism,” it said.
The public can also contact either oOh!media at uh-ooh-VIC@oohmedia.com.auTV or DTP at maintenance@transport.vic.gov.au
First published in the Mornington News – 22 October 2024
