Damning Chapel Street Safety Report Released
The Nightclub Owners Forum has released a report it commissioned from former Victoria Police Inspector, Matt Dillon highlighting safety and security problems in the popular Chapel Street Entertainment Precinct.
According to prominent Melbourne nightclub owner, Peter Iwaniuk, the Dillon Report has identified serious social and public safety issues in the area and a failure by Government to provide adequate police, transport, and other essential services.
The issues include:
· Gangs of African and other young people roaming the Chapel Street area with impunity engaging in anti-social behaviour, harassment and intimidation, assault and robbery – A video of typical gang behaviour in a Safeway car park can be seen on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZKSn6tkx8g
· No police street patrols on Friday nights and only limited vehicle patrols on Saturday nights despite this being one of Melbourne’s busiest tourist and entertainment precincts
· Large numbers Illegally drinking alcohol in the streets, car parks and other public places, with minimal or no enforcement, as well as high levels of ‘preloading’ (ie drinking by patrons before they enter bars or clubs to avoid paying high drink prices)
· Unconscionable behaviour by taxi drivers with up to 20 taxis on one occasion driving past, slowing down and even stopping opposite a lone youth being savagely assaulted by a gang of up to 12 African youths. Not one taxi driver rang 000, beeped their horn, or provided any other assistance. Video of this incident can be seen on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hq5-CDthJU
· A shortage of taxis at busy times and other problematic behaviour by taxi drivers including trawling for and ‘cherry picking’ fares, double parking, etc
· A failure at State and local Government levels to provide adequate night time infrastructure in the form of police resources, private security, CCTV cameras, public transport, public toilets, street lighting, signage and street cleansing services.
· Large volumes of litter associated with late night take away food outlets and convenience stores, as well as discarded alcohol bottles and cans.
· Contradictory planning decisions by artificially restricting the development of the Chapel Street entertainment precinct yet allowing the local population density to increase enormously with recent approvals of large high rise residential developments some as high as 40 storeys
“None of these problems can be attributed to the conduct of local bars and clubs yet there is where the blame is being laid by Government and some local residents” said Mr Iwaniuk.
Mr Iwaniuk added “The recent decision to amend the Stonnington Planning Scheme to severely restrict the size and trading hours of new licensed venues was short sighted and out of step with public demand.
“In this modern era, entertainment venues are community centres where people meet to socialise and escape from the stress of their everyday lives. Around 50% of Prahran and South Yarra’s population is aged 20-39. In the City of Stonnington, 58.7% of the population is single and 31.5% live in single households.
“A survey by the Stonnington Council found that the most common reason for visiting Chapel Street is visiting bars or nightclubs and this reason is two to three times more prevalent than coming to Chapel Street for dinner. Placing artificial restrictions on demand for entertainment venues is counterproductive both socially and economically and denies local single young people adequate opportunities to socialise.
“It is contradictory planning policy to be rapidly increasing local population density and at the same time attempting to restrict and reduce community social hubs.
“Residents will be forced to travel to the CBD and other suburbs for their entertainment and socialisation, further increasing traffic congestion, further stressing taxi services, and encouraging more people to risk drink driving. In inner suburbs such as Prahran, South Yarra, and Windsor, residents should be able to walk to diverse, vibrant and safe community friendly social hubs.
“Market forces ensure that the entertainment industry remains competitive, offers good customer service and value for money, and is constantly seeking to adapt to new fashions, trends and cultural influences.
“The Baillieu Government and the Stonnington City Council should instead urgently address the critical social, security and infrastructure problems identified in the Dillon Report and adopt all of the ten recommendations in this report” said Mr Iwaniuk.
The ten key recommendations in the Dillon Report are:
1. Chapel Street on Friday and Saturday evenings should be managed in the same away as any other major event with high level planning, coordination and resource allocation being managed by a team of senior officers and key stakeholders from Victoria Police, the City of Stonnington, local licensees and traders, the Victorian Taxi Directorate, etc. A Chapel Street Combined Response Project should be established in conjunction with the Stonnington Licensees Accord and Forum.
2. On Fridays and Saturdays, as well as other busy evenings, a highly visible police presence should be provided in and around Chapel Street in the form of foot patrols, officers regularly appearing at key ‘hot spots’ and regular police vehicular “drive by’s”.
3. As a partial and immediate solution to the lack of police resources, the City of Stonnington should fund teams of security guards (as does Frankston Council for example) that can be deployed in key locations and assist police, licensees and other traders through agreed protocols and an effective communication network.
4. The priorities of police should move away from saturation policing of licensed premises to ‘reclaiming the streets’.
5. A concerted campaign involving police and Council local laws officers should be immediately implemented targeting drinking, littering, urinating, vandalism and other anti-social behaviour in public places, supported by signage, education and public awareness campaigns, including in and around the local housing commission estates.
6. A multi-agency task force should be established to look at the issue of street gangs with a particular emphasis on African youth. Whilst the immediate problem of street gangs should be tackled with a strong enforcement campaign, a high priority should be given to working with the African and other ethnic communities in regard to education, public awareness and social support. Increased opportunities for socialisation should be explored, including alcohol-free underage (and possibly all ages) events on local licensed premises. A strategy to this effect could be developed through the local Licensees Accord.
7. A high quality security camera (CCTV) system should be fast tracked by the City of Stonnington that provides coverage of the entire Chapel Street Entertainment Precinct. The CCTV system should have live monitoring the same as occurs in the Melbourne CBD. CCTV systems without live monitoring have limited impact.
8. Adequate infrastructure must be provided for public transport, public toilets, improved signage, and street lighting. A subsidy scheme should be put in place by the City of Stonnington to encourage installation of sensor lights in commercial properties.
9. The Stonnington City Council must urgently introduce an improved strategy for street cleansing on busy nights. Bars and Nightclubs are not responsible for the large amounts of litter in the streets at night. They do not sell food or liquor for take away. Take away food outlets, convenience stores and bottle shops are responsible for the litter problem and must be part of the solution. Perhaps a ‘cleansing’ levy could be imposed on these traders, with additional Council rubbish services introduced on busy nights. Planning restrictions could be introduced which prevent any more late night food outlets from opening unless certain responsibilities are accepted in relation to cleanliness of the precinct.
10.A protocol similar to the Tasmanian Taxi Watch Scheme should be developed with the taxi industry to report crimes observed immediately to 000 or other agreed police reporting number, either directly or through their base call centre. The taxi industry has a huge capacity and could demonstrate a social responsibility by being the ‘eyes and ears’ on the street.
“Our late night entertainment industry needs the support of the Government, media and wider community. A healthy industry is vital to our social and economic well being.
“Those who misbehave or break the law in public places must be made to take responsibility and face the consequences of their actions before any meaningful change in behaviour can be achieved. This is the basis on which the road safety campaign operates and why it has been so successful.
Unless the Baillieu Government addresses gang violence, illegal consumption of alcohol in public places and provides a secure, well serviced environment, Chapel Street is in danger of losing its reputation as a vibrant, tourist precinct” warned Mr Iwaniuk.
Matt Dillon concurred: “Chapel Street is a great, vibrant and exciting precinct which is not achieving its potential and is at risk of further deteriorating as an attraction and community asset. It is an extremely popular retail, hospitality and entertainment precinct which, unfortunately, is currently being spoilt by the fact that there are management issues and failures which need to be addressed by the City of Stonnington and Victoria Police in consultation with other agencies and stakeholders. It is an asset at risk of turning into a liability”.
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