Meekatharra Shire cleans up wrecked cars after spate of arson

After a spate of cars being burnt out in Meekatharra, the shire stepped in to remove more than 40 abandoned vehicles from the streets over the past month. “The town was starting to look a bit raggedy,” Shire president Harvey Nichols said. The Shire of Meekatharra announced a waiver of the usual fee for rubbish collection and set about picking up abandoned cars from roadsides and backyards in town from January 17. Cars left on shire property were removed and residents were given the opportunity to surrender old wrecks for pick-up. “It just got to the point where we just had to do something about it,” Cr Nichols said. “We knew we’d get 16 or 17, but 40 was a bit of a surprise.” Meekatharra Police reported four cars were set alight over the Christmas period. Acting officer-in-charge Det. Sgt Rex Tunks said there had been no further fires since the clean-up. “It was just juveniles being silly,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been working with local government on for a while now, but they just couldn’t facilitate the removal before the fires.” The cars, ranging from late-model Nissan Patrols, various Ford and Holden models, as well as a “stylish” Volvo were taken to Meekatharra’s tip, where locals have been invited to pick parts off them before scrap metal recyclers take the wrecks away in coming weeks. Cr Nichols said while arson was an issue, the main motivation was simply to clean up the town. “It’s hard enough to keep a good name. The last thing we needed was people travelling through and seeing wrecked cars on the side of the road, just to remind them that Meekatharra can sometimes be not a nice place,” he said. “You’re always looking to clean up your town, but it’s usually people’s responsibility to keep their place tidy.”