Community
27 June, 2024
Mural restored following vandalism
THE eye-catching mural at the Mortlake Skate Park has been restored after being vandalised earlier this year.
Port Fairy’s James Cody-Davis, a former Mortlake resident, had been commissioned to paint the mural at the undercover area beside the Mortlake Skate Park in 2020 in a bid to bring colour and vibrancy to Tea Tree Lake for all to enjoy.
In February this year, however, the mural was vandalised, along with a rubbish bin beside the lake and toiletries bin being set on fire, in a series of incidents police believed were related.
“Unfortunately, some holes were smashed in the mural as well as a bit of graffiti on the internal side, so I’ve replaced probably 40 per cent of the internal mural and a small portion on the exterior,” Mr Cody-Davis said.
“It’s at a decent cost to council to fix it all up again.
“I essentially stuck to the original mural but took some liberties to make it look a little tidier.”
At the time of the incident, a Moyne Shire Council spokesperson condemned the vandalism which was expected to cost ratepayers thousands to repair.
“It’s disappointing that these types of senseless incidents happen and will mean additional costs to repair and replace damaged items,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Cody-Davis said the damage had particularly been disappointing as an impacted area had included a message of support for Mortlake’s Jackson Boyden, a former Moyne Shire Youth Council member and Young Citizen of the Year who was involved in a car crash in 2020 which has left him fighting a lengthy recovery battle.
During his time on the Youth Council, Mr Boyden had been a driving force in promoting youth interests at Tea Tree Lake which led to not only an uptick in funding but highlighted the importance of young voices being heard in planning and development.
“Originally there was a council of people under the age of 18 who had got together to select the design for the mural and have a say on what got painted on there,” Mr Cody-Davis said.
“When I originally painted it, Jackson Boyden was part of that council.
“He’s had a really tough time recovering from what happened.
“When they smashed the mural, they put a hole through the panel that had “For Jackson” on it, so there’s no self-awareness of what’s going on in the area and what they’re actually damaging.”
Mr Cody-Davis said the vandalism had been unfortunate as the efforts to bring vibrancy and life to Tea Tree Lake through the installation of the public gym equipment, Dance-O-mat and skate park had been well received in the community.
“You hope people would be more considerate of something which is done for the community, and chosen by the community,” he said.
“I don’t want to use the cliché disappointing, it’s more so just sad for the people involved and the young kids who use it all the time.
“When I was repainting it, a few kids from the college were walking through the park and I heard him say to a friend he was really happy they were repainting it.
“A lot of young kids like to use it so it’s not great for them.”
Mr Cody-Davis said he could relate to what was likely the actions of someone younger looking for a bit of adventure and destructive rebellion, but said damaging public property just wasted everyone’s time.
“If you feel the need so smash and vandalise public property, maybe go take up some kickboxing classes, get o a contact sport or do something constructive with your time,” he said.
“There’s a lot of productive ways to vent that frustration.
“What council have had to spend fixing this could have been invested elsewhere, perhaps even something like a BMX track at the lake.
“It’s the ratepayers who have to front the bill so it is just less money which can be invested back in to the community in a new way.”
