Crime out of control in Tennant Creek, says maor Steve Edgington

TENNANT Creek business owners are too scared to go on holidays and locals are considering leaving the troubled town amid a rise in property crime, says mayor Steve Edgington

Some of the $80,000 worth of damage caused to the Tennant Creek Bowling Club by vandals

TENNANT Creek business owners are too scared to go on holidays and locals are considering leaving the troubled town amid a rise in property crime, says Barkly Regional Council Mayor Steve Edgington.

Mr Edgington hosted a community forum on Monday night to discuss high levels of property crime in Tennant Creek, which about 120 people attended.

“There is a lot of anger and frustration,” he said.

Barkly Regional Council Mayor Steve Edgington at the Tennant Creek Bowling Club. Vandals caused about $80,000 to the community club

“I asked for a show of hands of how many people had been directly broken into or whether they knew someone who had.

“Nearly everybody in the room raised their hand. That's a strong indication of the problem.”

Mr Edgington’s comments are backed up by official NT Police statistics, which show motor vehicle theft in the community is up 74.1 per cent in the last financial year; house break-ins are up 55.3 per cent; property damage is up 6.4 per cent and commercial break-ins increased by 1.9 per cent.

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Combined, crime against property increased by 11.3 per cent.

Mr Edgington said “enough is enough”.

“The personal impact that crime is having is terrible – people want to see some action,” he said.

“Many people are afraid of going on holidays,” he said.

“People are saying they are going to leave, which will lead to more and more empty shopfronts and more and more break-ins.”

Mr Edgington said residents wanted perpetrators to face harsher penalties.

“Many people feel young people are not being held accountable for their crimes,” he said.

Early this month, vandals caused about $80,000 to the Tennant Creek Bowling Club.

Some of the $80,000 worth of damage to the Tennant Creek Bowling Club caused by vandals

Club lessee Darrell Logue has lived in Tennant Creek for 40 years and agreed with Mr Edgington that crime was out of control.

“When the bowling club was running it was broken into weekly,” he said.

“It’s been closed for nine years, we’ve only just taken over the lease and were hoping to open in June,” he said.

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“It’s just wilful destruction – they haven’t taken anything. There’s no food, no alcohol, no money in there.”

NT Police senior sergeant Tanya Mace said police were still investigating the incident.