(City of Newcastle)
Newy 87.8 FM – City of Newcastle says it is extremely disappointed by recent theft and vandalism affecting community infrastructure across the city, including the theft of charging cables from two council fast electric vehicle charging stations.
The thefts have temporarily taken EV chargers out of service at Cleary Street, Hamilton and the No. 2 Sportsground car park in Newcastle West. Replacement cables have been ordered and the council is working to restore the chargers as soon as possible.
The council said the loss of income from the chargers will place further pressure on its budget, at a time when staff are reviewing expenditure to enable the decision to reduce pool entry to $2.
Vandalism at Smith Park in Hamilton North caused disruption to local sporting clubs and volunteers. Repair work is underway and is expected to be completed Tuesday afternoon with no ongoing impact to user groups.
Kentish Oval at Lambton was also vandalised earlier this month, with repairs completed without impact to scheduled sporting fixtures or training.
The EV charger incidents have been reported to NSW Police, with several other privately-owned and council-owned EV sites also targeted in surrounding local government areas.
The council is investigating options to reduce the risk of future incidents, but says with more than 150 sports fields and 250 parks it is not realistic to prevent every act of theft or vandalism.
Anyone with information is urged to contact NSW Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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