Ashlee Vucetic calling for answers about why her Dad’s memorial had to be removed
A roadside memorial to honour her late father was helping Ashlee Vucetic and her brother Reece Skinner come to terms with the grieving process – and now they’ve been forced to remove it.
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For more than a year, a wooden cross on Maryvale Rd was a place that Ashlee Vucetic and Reece Skinner visited to mourn the loss of their father, Peter, who died in a tragic car accident in March 2018.
However, the siblings have to start the grieving process “all over again” after Campbelltown Council told the family to remove the roadside memorial near Foxfield Oval in Athelstone.
Now, all that remains is a small plaque, affixed to a log, which cost $182.
The family has called on the council for answers about why the cross, which the family took back last week, had to be removed.
Mrs Vucetic told The Advertiser she felt as if she had failed her father and, “ideally”, wanted the cross to be put back.
“It was all fine for a year and a bit and then, all of a sudden out of the blue, it is not OK … so we can only assume someone complained because the council would not tell us,” Mrs Vucetic, 24, of Paralowie, said.
“It’s just not the same with this tiny plaque and, to me, it is like we have let (Dad) down.
“If someone has complained, we have the right to know … it is our Dad’s memory they are interfering with.”
She said the cross was somewhere she and her family went to mourn, as well as bring their father his favourite drink – a Farmers Union Ice Coffee.
“My brother especially was beside himself because he thought the plaque would be bigger, but of course the plaque is really, really small and your can’t really see it,” she said.
“He was a bit hurt because he made the cross and he made it really, really nicely.
“It did not look tacky – it was a nice one.”
Under the council’s Memorials on Council Land Policy, memorials should “not be detrimental” to the amenity of council land.
Roads and road reserves cannot be used for memorials.
All complaints about memorials are considered by council staff and, if necessary, memorials may be relocated or removed.
Campbelltown Council chief executive Paul Di Iulio said there were complaints about the memorial, but declined to say when they were made and their content.
He called the family on Friday, May 31, 2019, to discuss the memorial and “its need to be removed”.
However, the council was “sensitive to the fact” there was a family wedding and allowed the memorial to be erected until October 8, after the wedding.
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Mr Di Iulio said he met with the family on October 14 to find a location for a plaque and discuss its content.
RAA Senior Manager Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain said roadside memorials can play an important role in the grieving process for family and friends following accidents. “However, appropriate measures are necessary to ensure these memorials are installed in a safe location, do not unduly distract drivers or interfere with traffic control devices,’’ he said.