6 hours Ago By No Author
The Wellsford community has been rallying round after heartless thieves stole gardening machinery and equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars from the town’s community garden in School Road. Andrew McLennan, who has been restoring and running the garden for the past two years, said it was “like a punch in the guts’ when he found the storage container had been broken into and raided on the morning of November 18. “We’ve really been hit hard this time and they’ve taken valuable stuff.
Half the container’s gone and they went for the really essential gear. The value’s still being tallied but it’s in the tens of thousands,” he said. The haul included a near-new wood chipper, a rotary hoe, a brand-new chainsaw, wheelbarrows, hand tools, spades, secateurs, trowels, hoses, reels, petrol cans and more.
McLennan thought it was “almost certainly” the same people who broke the container’s heavy-duty padlock and stole equipment worth $5000 around six months ago. “After that, we got a lockbox welded on, but they took a battery-powered grinder to it, and a grinder with the right disk on it will cut through anything,” he said. “This was purposeful targeting.
They knew exactly what they were doing and what was in there. They came back committed, and even brought a truck this time.” Although initially disheartened, McLennan said he was touched by a huge wave of offers to replace stolen items from individuals and businesses in and around Wellsford.
“It’s amazing when the community rallies, it restores your faith in bucket-loads,” he said. “I want to tell everyone how heartening it is to get that kind of response, it lifts my spirits and makes it seem there’s still a very much worthwhile purpose to doing this.” He expressed his thanks to everyone who had offered to donate items, including local businesses Civil IQ, Silverhill Small Engine Repairs, Fistonich Building and Good to Grow NZ.
“It’s good to know a lot of people do care about this place and are mindful that a lot of activity goes on here,” he said. “The potential to do so much more is just amazing, but until we can find a way of deterring these thieves, we just keep getting hit all the time. “We have to get the vibe out there that this is a place you shouldn’t touch,” McLennan added.
“It’s everybody’s place and the food we grow is going to your aunty, your uncle or your cousin – so if you steal from here, that’s who you’re stealing from.” The community garden has allotments for local residents, grows produce for foodbanks, rest homes and charities, and plays host to weekly visits from a large group of budding gardeners from Wellsford Primary School. Info and donations: contact Coast to Coast Hauora Trust, where the community garden is based, on 09 423 6006.
