IMAGINE their disappointment and dismay when community volunteers from the Strzelecki Lions Club turned up on the morning of their first Loch Summer Market of the season, on Sunday morning, October 13, and found the five locks to the railway reserve superglued shut.
They’ve acknowledged disputes with some local dog owners, over limiting access to the carpark paddock, while still leaving the market site open, as a result of problems with dog poo and suspect it’s a disgruntled dog owner whose done the dirty deed.
But they can’t be sure.
Either way, according to the chair of the market committee, Frank Hirst, the volunteers have taken the slight on their volunteering efforts in support of the community pretty hard.
“Fortunately, one of our members carries a tool kit so we were able to cut them off and open the market, but it was a pretty nasty act,” said Mr Hirst last week.
“Our maintenance guy got sick of running over dog poo in the carpark when he was cutting the grass, so we put locks on the gate there but left the market area open for dog walking.
“People think it’s a public reserve but we lease it from Victrack and it’s our responsibility to maintain it and keep it clean. It doesn’t help when people don’t pick up after their dogs.
“I understand that dog owners want an off-leash area for their dogs but we’re trying to run a market here and it’s not very nice for volunteers to have to clean up after other people’s dogs.”
Mr Hirst said a few local dog owners had verballed some of the Lions’ members over the issue, so he strongly suspected one of their number had vandalised the locks.
“We’re not going to lock the gates anymore and we’re trying to get some bins for the dog poo but we’re just appealing to the community to keep the area clean and for dog owners in particular, to pick up after their dogs.”
The next market at Loch will be on Sunday, November 9.
