Editorial: Wanton vandalism costs everyone view from Marine Parade

Rachel Wise

Five times now the glass at the end of Napier's Marine Parade viewing platform has been smashed, presumably by vandals.

The toughened glass panels would not have succumbed to a slip or a tap or stones "flung up by the waves" as some have suggested.

The initial single glass panel was designed to give an uninterrupted view of the sea to folk visiting the viewing point. This was replaced with three panels, after the first act of vandalism just three months into the platform's existence.

The three panels were a compromise. Three panels meant three smaller replacement costs if - when - the vandals attacked again. Hopefully they would stop at smashing just one of them.

Five times the panels have been smashed, and at what cost? Thousands of dollars, but there's also a deeper loss - it's a dash to morale. The greater public, who enjoyed the simple beauty of the viewing platform, are disappointed.

They will be more disappointed when the council is forced to replace the glass panels with steel. It won't be as attractive. It won't fit in with the original design.

Was it too much for the Napier City Council - and the public - to ask that a public attraction be left undamaged?

What drives someone to destroy such things? Boredom? Intoxication? Showing off to friends?

Whatever it is it will now have a permanent legacy - a steel barrier where once there was a
clear view. It's not a monument I would be proud of.