Willans Hill Railway sees rise in trespassing and vandalism from adventure playground access

The Wagga Society of Model Engineers who operate the mini railway sought full funding from council for the new fence to be constructed between the track and the top of the hill near the adventure playground, after they said trespassing and vandalism skyrocketed after the new equipment was installed in late 2020.

At Monday evening's General Council Meeting, councillors voted to fund half the cost of the planned 6 foot wire fence for the 100 metres of unfenced track, which a staff report estimated will cost between $20,000 and $40,000.

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The Society of Model Engineers is legally responsible for any boundary fencing according to their leasing agreement, but president Jim Weeden said they were "disappointed" in the council's decision because the problem was caused by the installation of the playground.

He said when the Entwine precinct was developed, landscaping of the formerly very steep bank created a more gentle incline and easier access to the unfenced stretch of track.

"The thing that is upsetting our members is that we had a secure bank there before, they've come along and made it so kids can run up it," Mr Weedon said. "They've caused the problem, they should fix it."

Fellow society member Peter Micenko said their Safety Report System has shown access to the track has directly lead to more vandalism.

"We've had two major incidents in this 100 metres in [the] months since the playground was opened and we've had maybe one or two everywhere else in 20 years," Mr Micenko said.

On one occasion, the 'points operating lever', which changes the direction of the tracks, was tampered with and almost caused a train coming down the hill to jump the tracks. On the other occasion, a train was derailed by rocks and debris placed at critical points.

Mr Weedon says apart from these occasions, they are regularly seeing children running on the tracks which are on land leased by the society and therefore not open to the public.

"I've come up here driving and kids were playing chicken with me," he said. "I have stopped the train and said this is private land, please leave, but people think it's council land and they keep going."

The society is a not for profit and is concerned about covering the cost that could be as high as $20,000. On Monday, council made an arrangement to pay the fee up front and allow the society to repay them over two years.

"We're not a business, we're a not for profit voluntary organisation, no one gets paid we're basically covering our costs," Mr Micenko said.

He said with business off the cards thanks to the NSW Covid lockdown, the society will likely have no choice but to cover the costs by raising ticket prices.

"We've had no income because of this outbreak but we still have all of the costs," he said. "It's going to be hard to cover, we might have to increase our prices because this is an unforeseen cost."

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