Clubs furious at break-ins

By Sarah Schwager
CRANBOURNE sporting clubs are furious after the latest in a spate of break-ins at Lawson Poole Reserve.
The clubrooms and storage shed at the reserve have been targeted five times in the last six months, with numerous more counts of vandalism.
The facility is used by 10 local clubs, three of which use the storage shed – Cranbourne Little Athletics, Cranbourne Auskick and Cranbourne Meadows Cricket Club.
The latest burglary occurred last Friday night or Saturday morning.
The Cranbourne Meadows Cricket Club was the worst affected, with its cage broken into and a cricket bat (bought as a prize) and money stolen.
Lawson Poole Reserve committee of management secretary and Cranbourne Little Athletics treasurer Linda Gladstone said the clubs were becoming extremely frustrated at the constant break-ins and vandalism.
“It’s the amount of damage they do and the inconvenience of it all,” she said.
“The kids are the ones who are missing out.”
Cranbourne Meadows Cricket Club committee member Darren Diss said the thefts and damage were a huge burden on the club. This was their third break-in in the last six months.
“We are not a rich club. It does affect us especially after you put in the hard work to raise the funds,” Mr Diss said.
Cranbourne Little Athletics president and Casey mayor Kevin Bradford said the thefts were extremely disappointing for the local sports clubs.
Cr Bradford said he would be talking with council officers about increasing security to prevent the thefts from happening again.
“It’s a concerning trend. Volunteer committees are continually having to fundraise to buy equipment,” he said.
Recently both the Lynbrook Junior Cricket Club and the Narre Warren South Football Club were targeted when equipment was stolen.
The last time the clubrooms at Lawson Poole Reserve were broken into, microwaves, fridges, and pie warmers had to be replaced.
Cranbourne Meadows Cricket Club president Trevor Poole called for the security to be upgraded and an alarm installed at the club.
Cranbourne Meadows Cricket Club secretary Jason Viney said he would be bringing up the issue at the next grounds committee meeting.
Anyone with information about the break-in should contact Detective Senior Constable Gary Emery at the Cranbourne CIU on 5995 4577.