Deterring vandals at Goulburn's Victoria Park

The council was angered last month when picnic tables were smashed, broken glass left around the new adventure playground and cars accessed the park without authorisation.

Now 21 CCTV cameras will be installed to monitor movements at five access points.

Hume MP Angus Taylor announced the $180,000 funding under the federal government's Safer Communities Program on Saturday at Victoria Park.

"CCTV is the single most powerful deterrent for vandalism and anti-social behaviour," he said.

"I know that from my time as Minister for Law Enforcement."

Given Victoria Park was quickly becoming a recreational hub he believed there was even greater need to protect its infrastructure.

Mr Taylor said he'd received feedback from police that CCTV cameras installed near Ellesmere Street in 2015 had stopped "bad behaviour." They were installed using $84,000 provided under the same funding program.

Mayor Bob Kirk has been a vocal critic of the vandalism, particularly graffiti sprayed on the adventure playground soon after its completion.

"We've had a lot of unsavoury incidents up here, including the smashed park benches. The people who did it even left behind the pick they used," he said.

"Damage has also been done to climbing walls and other parts of the playground...We get all sorts of reports about unpleasant behaviour so to deter that through cameras and lighting is what it's all about."

The funding comes amid progress on other additions and improvements to Victoria Park.

A design for the skate park upgrade is due to be completed later this month. A cement slab for a multi-sports rage cage will be poured in March, ready for the facility which is being made by a South Australian company offsite.  

Cr Kirk said plans for a Japanese Garden around the current duck pond were also well in train.

A landscape architect and a head gardener from Goulburn's sister city, Shibetsu have visited and assessed the site. They will come up with a design and a delegation will return in November for a sod turning ceremony. The visit will coincide with the 20^th anniversary of the sister-city relationship.

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