A newly resurfaced petanque terrain at Kulim Park destroyed from a motorcyclist riding through and tearing it up for the second time is frustrating the game’s local group.

Matua resident Alf Weston says players of the Kulim Park petanque group were dismayed when they arrived to play petanque on the morning of July 10 to find that “during the previous night, one or more motorcyclists had been doing wheel spins and wheelies over the newly-resurfaced petanque terrain, destroying the special surface the council staff had spent months preparing”.

Alf says on July 17 again the terrain had been ridden over and trashed. “It is so frustrating.”

“A petanque terrain is constructed, hard clay pan, topped with a then layer of fine gravel. As a result of this deliberate vandalism, a large portion of the surface has been destroyed, with various surface layers now mixed into a slurry the courts is virtually unplayable.”

Alf says players have raked and tidied as much as they can “but the damage is deeper than desirable”.

A police spokesperson has confirmed the police received a report of willful damage “which is believed to have occurred between Tuesday afternoon July 9 and Wednesday morning July 10″.

“The case has been noted for intel purposes. As there were no lines of inquiry, the case has been closed pending information that would assist in identifying those responsible.”

Petanque player Ian, who wants to remain anonymous, was first on the scene after the first vandalism. “My heart sank when I saw the mindless damage inflicted on a wonderful asset.

“I’ve been playing petanque at Kulim Park for the last three-four years and have watched the council’s contractors painstakingly build a raised, well drained court (terrain) for the public to enjoy.

“I would imagine many thousands of dollars from the council’s park budget was poured into the project. Perhaps part of the problem is there is no signage to explain to park users what the area is for?”

Ian says children and parents need to understand it’s not a big sandpit or bike track – “not that signs would have made any difference to the vandals who were hellbent on having ‘fun’”.

“I understand they moved down to Fergusson Park and did wheelies on the playground there.”

Damage at the Kulim Park pétanque court.

Kulim Park petanque club member Rene Sjardin says the club regularly use the court. “The club that regularly uses the pitch is composed of retired people whose main interest in playing lies not so much in the competitive aspect of the game, but in the fact that the activity provides for the important aspect of relating to other people in a social setting.

“I use the term ‘club’ loosely, as it has no formal structure; the emphasis is on the friendly social atmosphere which makes it such an attractive option for the members.”

“The [Tauranga City] council, after representation from some of our members, did us proud by upgrading the old and often water-logged pitch to a wonderful facility which has allowed the group to flourish and grow in numbers.

“The thoughtless and senseless vandalism perpetrated on the pitch is all the more heart-wrenching as it hits at the very reason for the existence of the club,” says Rene.

Tauranga City Council spaces and places operations manager Warren Aiken says when council was notified of the situation, they sent a maintenance team to assess the damage.

“The terrain was raked level, and we expect it will settle further once it gets some rain on it. The community petanque court was resurfaced as part of the Kulim Park upgrade in 2023 and cost $12,500.”

He says there are no plans at this stage to fence the area.

- SunLive