The Queenstown Lakes District community has had enough of petty crime and vandalism, Queenstown Lakes District Council Mayor Clive Geddes said.

Coming in the wake of snapped trees on Wanaka's Pembroke Park and Queenstown's Shotover Street, a random rural post box destruction spree and an escalation in littering - a seven hour graffiti spree in central Queenstown, last week, was the last straw.

"I think this community has had a real gutsful. I think there is a high level of exasperation amongst residents," Mr Geddes said.

He believed that for some time the district had been making positive progress towards a cleaner environment.

"Now we are facing unprecedented amounts of rubbish around the town, on the roadside and in the rural sector. The Council is lifting its game by committing more resources to street cleaning but at the end of the day there is a limit to what this community can and should pay for cleaning up after the ignorant few," Mr Geddes said.

No doubt some of the blame could be apportioned to the transient population and the odd ignorant local but it was appalling to think visitors to the district could treat it with such contempt.

"We are very happy to receive visitors but we expect them to behave here as they would at home. This is our home and visitors to it should treat it with respect," Mr Geddes said.

Visitors were welcome but only if they obeyed the law and respected the environment.

"Otherwise don't come," he said.

It was time the community gave the police the support needed to clamp down on petty crime.

"I'd like to think people picked up the phone and reported any activity detrimental to our environment, clearly the police have no hesitation in dealing with the offenders. We should not have to tolerate this sort of behavior from visitors or locals," Mr Geddes said.

Certainly the police had the ability to hand down stiff diversion criteria. A case in point, being the Australian and American tagging pair who were diverted but paid $1000 each towards a charity and the cost of cleaning, in addition to scrubbing off the graffiti.

It was possible that the Courts also needed to follow through and apply harsher penalties to those offending.

"Perhaps there needs to be a stronger message being sent to those offending, starting here," Mr Geddes said.

ENDS

For further information please contact Clive Geddes 027 229 4860.

By: Tamah