Ram raid at Roar brings fence funding into question

A controversial $12 million fund that councillors can use at their discretion has been called into question south of Brisbane, after two sporting clubs received money to build fences but a third was refused funds after property was damaged in a ram raid.

A Roar caravan parked in front of the fence which was ram raided in February.

A controversial $12 million fund that Logan councillors can use at their discretion has been called into question, after two sporting clubs received money to build fences but a third was refused funds for repairs.

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A week after the new council reinstated the ditched cash pool this month, it was revealed two Underwood sporting clubs were granted $100,000 each in 2018 to build new fences but a request for money to fix a fence at the Brisbane Roar headquarters in February was refused.

The Roar, a national A-League soccer team based in Logan, asked the council to pay to repair the fence damaged after an angry member of the public ramraided it.

The incident bent the fence and a gate, leaving them unable to be locked and posing a security breach at the council-owned Heritage Park site.

Fences surround the Roar fields at the Heritage Park site owned by Logan City Council.

The club refused to comment but supporters said management was left to pay to get the fence repaired even though it was council property and on council land.

The club also parked a caravan in front of the broken section to stop trespassers.

In 2017, Logan councillor Lisa Bradley allocated $100,000 from her divisional fund for a fence for the Rochedale Tigers Rugby League Club and a further $100,000 for a fence for the Underwood Park Netball Association. The funding was approved in 2018.

This week, an officer said it was usual practice for the council to pay to fence sporting fields at community facilities owned by council.

Cars parked at the front of the Roar headquarters at Logan.

“As long as the fields are accessible to the public, we will fence fields,” he said.

Logan City Council was asked for comment.

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Roar supporter Brett Raguse said he supported last week’s reinstatement of the discretionary funds and said councillors often pooled their allocations to ensure the needs of larger projects were met.

“They are truly discretionary and I supported the reinstatement of the fund but not when councillors pick and choose (on an ad hoc basis),” he said.

“Some projects are not approved for funding but in the case of the Brisbane Roar fence, it is a council asset that should be maintained.

“The Roar brought a range of benefits to the city and those ‘free kicks’ to council included state and federal funding.”