Councillor's bizarre move to hide criminal activity

Hiding criminal activity won't solve the problem says journalist Caitlan Charles

According to one of Clarence Valley Council's councillors, Karen Toms, we shouldn't really be punishing people who break the law. Picture: Adam Hourigan

WHEN I DID something wrong as a child, I was punished.

When you are caught speeding by police, you are fined and could face jail time.

When you do something wrong at work, you are reprimanded.

This is how life works. There are consequences for your actions.

However, according to one of Clarence Valley Council's councillors, Karen Toms, we shouldn't really be punishing people who break the law.

When news broke that more trees had been poisoned on a headland in Yamba, there was outrage in the community, with people asking why community members felt they had the right to do this. They don't.

And if someone is illegally poisoning trees at South Head Park and Pippi Beach Reserve, for any reason, they should be punished. Simple as that.

Cr Toms suggested at the committee meeting on Tuesday night that signs should not be erected in place of poisoned trees because she did not want everyone to know there were criminals around and next began to talk about planting low-lying shrubs to replace the killed trees to protect residents' views.

So in other words, in response to a criminal act, Cr Toms would like to both cover it up and reward the people who allegedly broke the law.

How is this fair for anyone else who has broken the law or done something wrong? There has to be consequences in situations like this.

We are always taught we will be punished if we've done something wrong. It's that saying: the punishment must fit the crime. Just because it's not a visually appealing punishment or that we don't want people from outside the Clarence Valley to know we have criminals in the area, doesn't mean we ignore the issue.

While Cr Toms said she was disturbed by the reports of someone killing trees, she still didn't think they should be punished.

There are some councils across Australia who have put dirty, great big shipping containers in place of vandalised trees. Others have put screens up. Even around the Clarence Valley, for example at Diggers Camp, there are signs up in place of trees that have been vandalised.

This is part of the policy that the council follows to deal with these situations.

It's all well and good to be disturbed by the actions of these people, but it doesn't mean you ignore what should be happening to these people.

Someone has committed an illegal act in poisoning the trees in Yamba, and there should be consequences.

Originally published as Councillor's bizarre move to hide criminal activity