Vandals put $1.8m sport facility upgrade for Halls Creek in the dark

A $1.8 million upgrade to Halls Creek’s sport precinct has been suspended indefinitely until the young people responsible for smashing $9000 worth of LED lights over the basketball court fess up and apologise. Shire of Halls Creek CEO Phil Cassell said he was furious when he discovered that all 12 LED lights at the basketball court were smashed with rocks within four days of them being installed. “I was just livid,” he said. “I have put everything on hold until I can discuss this matter with whoever broke our lights. I’m not interested in involving the police in this. “If they want me to continue building sports and recreation facilities for them, they have to come and discuss with me why they did it and show that they are very sorry and promise that this will not happen again.” The Shire had been upgrading the sports precinct in an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour among youths in the desert town. It recently built a pump track next to the basketball courts with a $50,000 grant from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. Police and Job Pathways helped children fix up broken bikes so they could try out the ramps and jumps. Mr Cassell said the response to the pump track was ”fantastic”. “It’s powering on. We were about to extend it to twice the size until they did this,” he said. Planned upgrades also include barbecue shelters, gardens and seating around the basketball court. Mr Cassell said when the Shire had consulted young people about the recreation upgrades, they had “specifically requested” lights at the basketball court. “We are trying to give the kids a recreation area to discourage them from coming into town and being naughty,” Mr Cassell said. Mr Cassell said the Shire had considered installing metal grates over the lights to protect them from vandals but they would have ended up costing more than the lights themselves. In December the town organised a crisis meeting with various government agencies to discuss a spike in youth crime, particularly vehicle thefts and rock throwing. One of the outcomes from that meeting was a decision to improve recreational facilities in Halls Creek for young people.