Vandals broke in and cut power to Walker Road Sporting Precinct, leaving sports hub without power for days
Cairns football and cricket clubs have been left without power for days after vandals targeted the Walker Road Sporting Precinct.
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Vandals have targeted a much-loved Cairns sports precinct in an attack causing more than $50,000 in damage and leaving facilities without power for days.
Between midday and 3am on Wednesday at least four boys allegedly broke into the Walker Road Sporting Precinct in Edmonton, Cairns.
It’s alleged the boys forced open the electrical switchboard on the outside of the precinct, severing the cables and cutting power to most facilities before entering.
The Walker Road Sporting Precinct has three cricket ovals, two football pitches, four softball fields and a PCYC indoor sports centre.
The grounds are home to the Southside Comets Football Club and the Mulgrave Combined Cricket Association. Both clubs suffered training delays and income loss due to the vandalism.
Comets Southside Football Club president Keiren O’Brien said they’ve been forced to cancel at least two nights of training while they wait for power to be restored.
“(The boys) vandalised and damaged the electrical box to try and turn off the alarms before they came in,” Mr O’Brien said.
“But the alarms aren’t connected to those electrical boxes, so all they’ve done is caused destruction and cut power to about 90 per cent of our precinct.
“We’ve definitely had a loss of income. We bought all this food for a junior football event we were hosting - including sandwiches and frozen food — and we had to chuck about three quarters of it because our fridges lost power.
“I would guess about $10,000 worth of food has been destroyed.
“I think the damage all up, to our electrical box and our canteen, would probably be about $50,000.”
Mulgrave Combined Cricket Association Cricket committee member Gavern Lovett said the vandals “smashed” their toilet block doors.
“They stole some gear, including bats and balls,” Mr Lovett said.
“Along with the lost power to our canteen and cricket ground we probably had about $3000 worth of damage.”
As of Friday, May 2, power was restored to the cricket facilities, while Southside Comets FC were still waiting to be reconnected.
“Community Restorative Centre and Ergon crews did an excellent job responding so quickly and making sure everything was safe,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Repairs are completed so just waiting for permission from Ergon for power to be instated.
“We’re really hoping that football training can go ahead on (Friday night).”
Ergon spokeswoman Emma Oliveri said power would be restored to the football club as soon as it was safe to do so.
“Anyone who interferes with live electrical equipment, whether it is privately-owned or part of our electricity distribution network, is putting their own life and others at risk,” Ms Oliveri said.
“We are continuing to see alarming acts of network vandalism and copper theft across Queensland.”
The Queensland Police Service confirmed an investigation into the break-in was ongoing and no arrests had been made as of Friday.
“The police are appealing to any witnesses with any relevant information or vision who were in the Edmonton area between 12am and 4am on Wednesday,” a QPS spokeswoman said.
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Originally published as Vandals broke in and cut power to Walker Road Sporting Precinct, leaving sports hub without power for days
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