Caloundra youth jail plans abandoned after community backlash

The government has revealed its initial spending on its axed Caloundra youth jail project as residents welcome the backflip. See the timeline of the controversial bid:

A widespread campaign against a youth jail 600m from a Caloundra school has forced the state government into a stunning backflip on the controversial $16.4m project.

Residents have welcomed the news but it comes after hundreds of thousands of dollars was spent to strip the former Caloundra Watchhouse of office furniture, security systems and cameras.

Mother of two and business owner Donna Niazov said repurposing the watch-house into a youth remand centre should never have been proposed.

“This was a big win for Caloundra and the whole of the Sunshine Coast,” she said.

“I truly believe it would have had an impact on the whole region.”

Business owner and mother of two Donna Niazov was relieved the government abandoned its plans for a youth remand centre at Caloundra. Picture: Tegan Annett

The Sunshine Coast Daily exclusively reported the plans in July 2021 after the state government quietly included $5m in infrastructure funding for the facility in its 2021-22 budget.

“They’ve wasted money and created such uproar in the community,” Ms Niazov said.

“I’m very happy that in the end our local member (Labor’s Jason Hunt) supported the decision to scrap it but I was disappointed in the whole process – where was he?

“He should have been that voice for the community from earlier on.”

A youth justice department spokesman said only “minor works” were completed that would have been necessary regardless of if it was going to be repurposed or not.

However late last year, before consultation was completed, the watch-house sign was removed.

It was recently reinstalled outside the Gregson Pl facility.

State government contractors have removed desks, security systems and cameras from the former Caloundra Watchhouse.

But photos provided to media from Ninderry MP Dan Purdie showed the area had been “gutted” with security cameras, cabling and desks removed.

When asked how much was spent to date on the project a department spokesman said it “has been invoiced $345,000 for initial works, including design and preparation for the upgrades”.

When questioned further they said community consultation cost an additional $35,000.

They did not respond to questions on how much it would cost to have the facility returned to a watch-house or when police officers could resume using it.

Mr Purdie welcomed the news but said the process was a waste of money.

“It’s been gutted inside,” Mr Purdie said.

“It’ll take millions of dollars and probably 12 months to get it back to where it was.

“Cameras, cabling, security systems, everything has been stripped.

“The questions now legitimately are how much have they already spent on this?”

Timeline of the project:

Caloundra MP Jason Hunt declined a phone interview request but said in a written statement that he was very pleased with the decision.

“There was a lot of very deliberate misinformation and nonsense being spread about the proposal by the LNP but despite all their white noise there was still time to go through a process of consultation with the community and to hear what they had to say,” he said.

He said the existing facility was more than 10 years old and needed some infrastructure upgrades and added that money spent on security was “always a good investment” for community safety.

Jason Hunt was elected as Labor’s first ever Caloundra MP at the 2021 election. Photo: Liam Kidston.

The state budget did not include funds for the Caloundra South Police Station that Labor promised during the 2020 election.

Ms Niazov, a cleaner and pest control business owner, said the funds would have been better spent on policing.

She said two of her vans were vandalised on Monday.

“It was very upsetting, you hear about this sort of thing happening in Caloundra and Pelican Waters,” Ms Niazov said.

Queensland Minister for Children and Youth Justice Leanne Linard speaks during Question Time at Parliament House. Picture: Dan Peled

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard confirmed on Monday that the proposal would not proceed after it received widespread community backlash.

Late last year the state government conducted community consultation where it received 753 submissions.

Ms Linard said that the consultation process found “that Caloundra wasn’t the right place for this temporary centre”.

Documents detailing the government’s proposal said it would be a 24-hour remand facility for 10-15 youths.

It was proposed as an overflow facility for when Queensland’s three other remand centres were at or near capacity.