Loading ...Originally written by BILL MELDRUM
IT appears that the person who used a bobcat in the past week to demolish some earth mounds on Crown land in bush near the Portland North Cemetery has some serious explaining to do.
That’s the view of the unhappy skaters and BMX riders, aged between nine and 16, who descended on the Glenelg Shire’s Portland customer service centre on Friday afternoon in mass protest at the destruction of what has been one of their major recreational areas in the past four years.The area in question is a small parcel of bushland between the cemetery and the Discovery Ford (formerly Claymac Ford) dealership, just behind the information bay on the Henty Hwy.The Department of Sustainability and Environment is the land manager for the area, but none of its public land officers were available for comment on Friday.A spokesperson for the protest group said they had maintained the area for the past four years and had established the mounds.“The area is safe, we always leave it clean and there have been no complaints … it is a popular area where we all go and spend time, especially if it is raining at the skatepark because we can’t use the skatepark when it is wet,” the spokesperson said.One local business operator said he often saw young people in the area concerned and had no problems with them.“It gives them somewhere to go, an activity, and they don’t cause any problems,” the business operator said.The unusual and hastily organised protest did not fall on deaf ears within the shire offices.Glenelg mayor Geoff White admitted to being caught by surprise when he looked out from the council offices to see several young people riding bikes and skateboards in a prohibited area.“Normally, we would tell them to move on, but I looked outside and saw the numbers and thought perhaps not, in this situation,” he said.Glenelg Shire chief executive officer Stuart Burdack and recreation services officer Angela Solly gave a commitment to work through the issues after meeting with a delegation from the protest group.Ms Solly said the shire would attempt to work with the protest representatives to find the reason that the earthmounds were levelled, and also to see what could be done to fix the skatepark.
NOT happy … young protesters make their presence felt at the shire offices on Friday.090612jn20
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