Police pleas

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE Chamber of Commerce has added its voice to the call for a stronger police presence in the town following the latest spate of window smashing.
Shire of Yarra Ranges councillors spoke out in June about inadequate police resources in the shire, writing to the Chief Commissioner demanding more police across the shire and a 24-hour police station at Healesville.
They urged concerned residents to mount a letter-writing campaign to the government and the commissioner.
One Healesville business has been hit three times in the past two months. In the latest attack, on Friday night 3 July, six large windows were smashed resulting in a repair bill of thousands of dollars. Just weeks earlier a security camera was stolen from the front of the building. The time before, several windows were smashed.
A neighbouring business also had windows smashed on the Friday night.
And, last Saturday morning there were more signs of the vandalism that chamber president Joanne Tate said was impacting on the financial viability of businesses, on community morale and on the image of the town.
A large sign at Healesville Walk had been demolished overnight, the Green Street toilets had been trashed – again – and leaflets from the Memorial Hall had been scattered all around the footpath.
Ms Tate said the chamber supported the council’s call for a letter-writing campaign to Chief Commissioner Simon Overland demanding a better police deal for Healesville.
“We have all had enough of this vandalism – the address is C/o Victoria Police Centre, PO 415, Melbourne, 3005,” she said.
While business owners are reluctant to speak out for fear of further attacks, local tradesman Neil Street was not constrained.
Mr Street was repairing damage to one of the buildings when the Mail spoke with him on Saturday morning.
“You won’t stop this until we have police here in Healesville,” he said.
“Come night time, there’s no-one here and the kids in the park just do whatever they like.
“This happened at 4 in the morning … they should be in bed,” he added.
The Mail has been advised that police came from Mooroolbark to respond to that incident.
Ryrie Ward councillor Jeanette McRae said the concerns being expressed by the chamber, and by residents, reinforced the shire’s own concerns about the lack of police.
“As far as I am concerned we have good police officers who try hard to do a good job, but the reality is the whole region is under-resourced and we need a 24-hour station here,” she said.
“It’s not enough that they have 24-hour police stations a half an hour away.
“Their whole (policing) strategy talks about community safety and if you don’t have police available to respond to your call, that’s an issue,’ she said.
Senior Constable Chris Grasby of Healesville police said police had laid charges in relation to the first window-smashing incident and were confident they would get a result on the second.
He said video footage currently being enhanced by police was expected to provide a good image of the offender.
Sen Const Grasby said vandalism affected the whole community and urged anyone who had information which could help police with their investigations to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.