Council releases audit reports into community safety
Date published: 15 December 2023
Townsville’s safe night precinct could be expanded to take in more area up to Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
It’s one of the recommendations from the Community Safety Audit Reports which were adopted at December’s Ordinary Council Meeting.
A total of 10 reports, one for each Council division, were completed to outline some of the issues and recommendations to address community safety at Council-owned public spaces.
Former police officer Clint Drew, as Community Safety Auditor, put the reports together following about six months of research and consultation with residents, community groups, sporting clubs and relevant authorities.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney has praised the reports and said they contain a lot of great, out-of-the-box thinking to help address anti-social behaviour in these public spaces.
“The community has been telling us loud and clear that they want to feel safe and they want to be able to enjoy everything living in North Queensland has to offer,” Cr Greaney said.
“Mr Drew carried out an audit at a public space in each of the divisions to find ways to deter anti-social behaviour.
“The reports are an examination of current conditions at these locations and aim to identify areas for improvement and strategies to enhance overall community safety.
“I have to commend Mr Drew for the comprehensive work he did in putting together the report and also coming up with some common-sense and easy-to-initiate ideas to improve community safety.
“Some of those include expanding the footprint of the safe night precinct to give our local law enforcement more powers to move on people engaged in anti-social behaviour.
“Another solution was looking to activate some of our underutilised public spaces. We know this works because we’ve already seen a reduction of more than 60 per cent in anti-social behaviour after the new Citylibraries Riverway was opened in April.
“One of the other recommendations was for the Queensland Government to supply licence plate recognition technology to Council’s assets to help our police track down stolen cars.”
Infrastructure Services Committee chairperson Kurt Rehbein has thanked the community for their interest, suggestions, and feedback during the audit process.
“We received more than 360 detailed submissions during the audit process from residents who were engaged in reducing anti-social behaviour in our city,” Cr Rehbein said.
“Mr Drew visited each of the divisions during the research phase and spoke to people on the ground to get an idea of the problem and to hear some innovative and community-led solutions.
“Council is limited in what it can do in this space, but we will continue to advocate strongly for the community to ensure the lawmakers and lawbreakers are held to account.
“Council is committed to doing all it can in this space while working with all levels of government and agencies to help reduce crime and unacceptable behaviour in our city.”
All 10 of the Community Safety Audit Reports are available to view on Council’s website.
