By Tate Papworth
Vandals have attacked one of Brimbank’s most popular parks.
A number of mature trees at The Lakes Reserve in Taylors Lakes have been the subject of continued acts of vandalism.
The senseless act comes in the middle of a Brimbank Council funded $3.34 million upgrade to the park.
The council released a statement expressing its disappointment.
“We are extremely disappointed that reckless vandals have continued to deliberately damage some beautiful mature trees at The Lakes Reserve in Taylors Lakes,“ the statement said.
“This is particularly frustrating as council continues to work on completing a $3.34 million transformation of the reserve. We have reported the incident to police and urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.“
The council said it will work to remove the damaged trees and clean up the area as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately vandalism is a problem across Melbourne and does occur in our parks from time to time.
“Fortunately this is not a regular occurrence. It’s always so disappointing for everyone in the community who enjoys our beautiful parks when something like this happens.“
In May, work began to significantly upgrade the park.
A new activity and leisure area with exercise equipment, an obstacle course, a new irrigated picnic lawn, shelter, barbecue and improved views of the lake will all be included.
The council said safety will also be improved at the park, as will the shared user path on the south side of the lake from Kings Road via Parmelia Drive to Sunshine Avenue.
The council has tipped in $2.13 million for the upgrades as part of its 2018-19 capital works budget and has an additional $960,000 allocated for the project in 2019-20.
The state government has also supported the project with $250,000 funding.
The park is expected to reopen in late 2019, subject to weather.
