THE Wodonga cenotaph needs to be moved to a more appropriate location in light of a recent graffiti attack, according to a Border Vietnam war veteran.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
![TIME TO MOVE: Vietnam veteran David Martin believes the Woodland Grove site is no longer suitable for a war memorial. Picture: MARK JESSER TIME TO MOVE: Vietnam veteran David Martin believes the Woodland Grove site is no longer suitable for a war memorial. Picture: MARK JESSER](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/e8uBJxuTc2fGAziDArmhm5/4b330af2-f7b2-4185-9b78-4800a2d352d1.jpg/r0_0_920_573_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
David Martin said while the graffiti had been disappointing, there were also wider problems with the site at Woodland Grove.
Mr Martin believes the site is no longer suitable for a war memorial given the high volume of traffic surrounding it and adjacent bus stops.
“People need to start thinking about what’s going to happen in the future,” he said.
“I think it’s crowded there now and there are too many things going on there now with the community.
“It’s not really a place of reflection.
“There are people running around everywhere.”
Mr Martin, who was in the army for 21 years and whose father, Frank, served in WWI, said the railway precinct could be suitable.
“That’s an area that has a bit more room for people to move,” he said.
“I’m not saying that it has to be done straight away, I just want people to think about it.
“Because it’s the Centenary of Anzac there will be funding available.
“It would cost a lot of money and would need Commonwealth funding.
“It wouldn’t be cheap, but the community has to get involved.”
Mr Martin is involved with the RSL but said he was speaking as a private citizen.
He said the site was also too small for the growing number of people who attended the Anzac Day dawn service each year.
The Wodonga RSL sub-branch will discuss possible security changes at the council-owned site following the graffiti attack earlier this month.
Mayor Rodney Wangman said moving the site had been proposed to council on several occasions but there were no plans in place to relocate it.
“Council continues to make sure we work closely with the RSL in terms of graffiti control,” he said.
“We do that very regularly to make sure we keep the presentation of the cenotaph respectful to our community.
“This suggestion has been made to council in the past on various occasions, but at this particular time there are no plans by council to consider relocating the cenotaph to another location in Wodonga.
“We will continue to increase the civic security and presence around the site to make sure that people are respectful of what that monument stands for.”
Council business services director Trevor Ierino said there were no plans to install security cameras at the site and advised people should report criminal activity to police.