A RECENTLY constructed “kangaroo-proof fence” surrounding the Sapphire Coast Turf Club in Kalaru has caused a rift between the racecourse and local residents.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Twelve fence posts were neatly cut at their base with an angle grinder over the weekend of August 29-30, causing up to $6000 worth of damage in what appeared to secretary-manager of the Sapphire Coast Turf Club Rob Tweedie a protest against the construction of the fence.
“We’ve had a boundary fence put in to keep the kangaroos out,” Mr Tweedie said this week.
“It was constructed because it’s unsafe to have kangaroos on the grass while people are exercising their horses,” he said.
While a police investigation is underway, Mr Tweedie said locals living nearby are unhappy at the construction of the high fence.
“If the vandalism continues it could affect the employment of our staff,” Mr Tweedie said.
“The people who live here have made it clear.”
Nearby resident Clint Jamieson said local residents had nothing to to with the damage and he was concerned the large-scale fence was constructed without the consultation of residents and the area fenced had residential zoning as part of the strata scheme breaking the “common property” by-laws.
“The offer of mediation has come too late now the fence has been built,” Mr Jamieson said.
“It looks like a prison and devalues our property.”
While Mr Tweedie said the turf club did approach the nearest neighbouring resident to the fence before construction, a meeting had been organised to discuss the issue with all residents of the area.
Another resident, Renee Eves, wrote on the Bega District News’s Facebook page that it was only after complaints from residents that a meeting was organised.
Another resident, Caitlin Wallace, said all houses built in the area have spent tens of thousands of dollars building stables that have “never seen a horse” purely to comply with the by-laws.
“Our concern is that they [the turf club] have created the by-laws for residents and they are not following them themselves,” Mr Jamieson said.
Meanwhile, Mr Tweedie said on the weekend of August 22-23, a car was driven through a similar section of the fence, causing about $2000 worth of damage, but could not say whether the two incidents were related.
The Bega District News has contacted the Bega Valley Shire Council for comment, but it was yet to respond by the time of going to print.