'Overzealous rangers': unlikely culprit as missing canoe trailer found

A missing canoe trailer used by the Port Stephens Outrigger Canoe Club has been found in a council recycling centre after it was thought to have been stolen to be used for scrap.

Canoe club members turned up to training last week to find the trailer missing from its usual position next to the club's compound.

Head coach Tony Compton told the Newcastle Herald that he believed it had been towed away by someone looking to take it apart for scrap and parts.

After the story appeared in the Newcastle Herald and on the evening news, the real location of the trailer was revealed to the club after a worker at the recycling centre recognised that it had been impounded at the council facility.

Mr Compton said that when the trailer went missing, he contacted the council but was told that it had no record of it.

However, it has been revealed that the "theft" was the result of council rangers believing that the trailer was unregistered and illegally parked.

Mr Compton called it the work of "overzealous" council rangers.

A Port Stephens council spokesperson confirmed that the trailer had been impounded by the council.

"Council staff located a canoe trailer in October 2025 that did not display number plates, identifying it as unregistered," they said.

"A notice was placed on the trailer on 26 October 2025 advising the owner to either register the trailer or remove it from the location.

"As the trailer did not display number plates, Council was unable to identify the owner or make further contact to notify them of the issued notice.

"The trailer remained in the same location, without number plates, and Council did not receive any contact. Approval was granted to tow the trailer on 6 December 2025."

Mr Compton said that the trailer and the previous one owned by the club had always been parked in the same location with no issues.

"We have had it and the previous trailer parked in that spot for years without a problem," he said.

"The frame with the rego plate on it is kept just inside the compound and visible from outside the compound.

"When I went to retrieve the trailer yesterday, I did noticed a very faded sticker on the draw bar, advising of an unregistered trailer. So small we hadn't noticed it before."

He said the council would not release the trailer until payment for its impounding was sorted. This was handled by council administration staff, who did not return to work until after the new year.

"We are trying to get council to write it into our compound lease, so that we can have that spot for the trailer," he said.