Copper wire thieves who targeted Lancefield Park Recreation Reserve last week disrupted the facility’s power supply and cut off broader town telecommunications.
Committee of management secretary Bill Balcam said the discovery of about 100 metres of stolen power cable was made at the reserve early last Monday morning.
“They came in and ripped out the copper wire. The power was down to all the facilities,” he said.
“People in the community aren’t happy, especially when you combine this incident with others like graffiti attacks, break-ins and idiots doing doughnuts on the grass.”
Telstra’s telecommunications facility located at the reserve was impacted due to the power supply being cut. Toilets at the reserve were also out of use.
Telstra regional engagement manager, Marcus Swinburne, said that without power cables, Telstra also couldn’t connect back-up power to its facility.
“The impact of this sort of theft on customers can be significant, and despite our best efforts to repair and restore services quickly, businesses, individuals and critical community services can be disconnected for days,” he said last week.
Sporting and recreational clubs, including football, cricket, netball, tennis, equestrian and small bore rifle, had to “make do without power” for the week or create alternative plans.
Lancefield Football Netball Club president Chris Dynon said footballers and netballers hadn’t been able to resume normal training without lights.
Footballers had to resort to training indoors in their pre-game area, using generators to power the pavilion, while netballers travelled to Sunbury for training.
The club also had to rescue all refrigerated and frozen goods to stop spoilage and waste.
Mr Dynon said the club was staying positive for power restoration this week for activities to resume as normal and in time for upcoming fundraisers.
“We’re sweating on it being fixed by Wednesday,” he told the Express last week. “Whatever happens, we’ll find a way and soldier on.”
On Sunday, Mr Balcam reported power had been restored to the reserve. The reserve committee has been working with local MP Mary-Anne Thomas and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to restore facilities.
Anyone who has any CCTV footage or information about the incident is encouraged to contact police.