An Adelaide Hills dad says one of his children was reduced to tears when his family awoke to find a cherished cubby house being demolished by a council excavator.
Mount Barker resident Arnd Enneking said his sons, aged nine and 11, had spent weeks constructing the cubby on a nearby reserve.
The local council has defended the decision to remove it, saying it was partly motivated by safety concerns, but Mr Enneking said the cubby had "created a real sense of community engagement" and that dismantling it was a "bit rough".
"We moved to Mount Barker about two years ago from the country, so our kids are … used to being outside and doing things, rather than sitting inside watching TV," Mr Enneking told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"There are businesses here that leave pallets on the side of the road and things like that so I thought, 'Oh, great we've got materials'."
After putting a platform into a red gum, Mr Enneking's children attempted a more ambitious structure on the adjacent ground.
"The other kids around the streets saw what our two were doing and all of a sudden this whole group of children were building and hammering," he said.
"They initially just built a single room and then a little enclosure and then they decided to put a roof on it and then closed it in and then they made a little bridge across the creek."
But he said that, as his children were getting ready for school on Wednesday, they were shocked by what then happened.
"Two trucks rocked up, one with an excavator on it, and it was like, 'What are they doing?' and then they just proceeded to tear it down," Mr Enneking said.
"The kids were there — they hadn't gone to school yet — so they were devastated.
"My eldest was in tears all day yesterday."
Demolition followed complaint, council says
Mount Barker District Council's general manager of infrastructure, Phil Burton, said the structures were "built illegally on council land", and that safety was a key consideration.
"There was no consultation done in pulling it down. We received a complaint from a resident in the area, that's when we became aware of the structure," he said.
"[One] was built into a river red gum some couple of metres off the ground.
"A concerned resident thought it was unsafe and, upon our inspection, we agreed."
Mr Burton said the council had decided to halt the demolition of the cubby to allow Mr Enneking's family to remove it themselves and salvage materials in accordance with their wishes.
"I think there's an opportunity to find a way to work with the youth of that area to be creative and build something suitable using council resources or some support from our youth team," he said.
Mr Enneking said he understood the council's point of view, but the experience had left a sour taste.
"It was such a galvanising activity for our little community here. It's a shame it's ended like that," he said.
