Kelvin Grove crime ‘no better, worse’ than other suburbs

The body corporate boss of Kelvin Grove Urban Village says he’s surprised to hear of a “crime crisis” brewing, after three years of community safety surveys showed only minor concerns.

THREE years of successive community surveys have not uncovered any crime “crisis” at Kelvin Grove Urban Village, the chairman of a lot owners group says.

Dr Lewe Atkinson, who chairs the Kelvin Grove Village Principal Body Corporate committee, said he was surprised to hear of comments by residents of a crime “crisis” brewing at Kelvin Grove.

“Based on statistics police share with me, (Kelvin Grove Urban Village is) no better and no worse than any other densely populated part of Brisbane,” Dr Atkinson said.

Earlier today, local boarding house owner Peter Jeremijenko said he blamed tenants in Brisbane Housing Company’s low-rental property at Ramsgate St for the ongoing crime in the area.

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He encouraged residents in the media and on social media to attend a “Coffee with a Cop” session at the village today, to make their safety concerns known to police.

City North News attended the event and observed about 15 local residents in attendance, as well as other members of the media, politicians Brisbane MP Trevor Evans and Queensland Greens candidate for Brisbane Andrew Bartlett, representatives from Brisbane Housing Company, and a handful of police officers. The original purpose of the event was to help relaunch the Kelvin Grove Urban Village Neighbourhood Watch, including a new communication portal featuring news, events and information about community policing initiatives.

Kelvin Grove resident Peter Jeremijenko says crime is an issue at Kelvin Grove Urban Village. (AAP Image/Renae Droop)

Kelvin Grove Urban Village is managed by a body corporate scheme, which residents are encouraged to contact if they have concerns. (AAP Image/Renae Droop)

Dr Atkinson, which is also the volunteer co-co-ordinator of the Neighbourhood Watch group, said it was a coincidence that the “Coffee with a Cop” event came on the same day that Mr Jeremijenko’s comments hit the media. The event had been planned weeks ago, he said.

Dr Atkinson said community safety audits conducted yearly in 2015-17 involved asking residents, workers, students and business owners about their experiences.

“Through the process there were minor things (uncovered) but nothing of significant concern,” he said. “That lead on to the creation of the Neighbourhood Watch Group — which was a natural progression (of that communication process), not as a response to escalation.

“I have got to confess that what I heard today from a concerned resident adjacent to Ramsgate St is new information … certainly we have conducted surveys in the area over the years and no one else had brought it to our attention. However, I have to say that Peter had chosen not to participate in that process.”

Mr Jeremijenko, who works as a stunt man in the film industry, said he was putting himself at risk by speaking out about what he called the crime crisis which he blamed on residents at the Brisbane Housing Company’s Ramsgate St apartments. His house is on a street behind the apartment block. The affordable housing venture offers discounted rents to eligible tenants who meet a minimum income test, or who are on the national rental assistance scheme.

“I have personally been robbed three times,” he said. “We live in the house next door to them so if I go and get milk across the road, they can see from their balcony when I leave. They can see into the girls’ (the international students boarding at the house) bedrooms. The girls have been followed home. We are afraid for our safety.

“It should be turned into student accommodation. They’ve been given a chance — 12 years of chances. I can’t be in fear of my life in my own neighbourhood.”

Dr Atkinson said now that he was aware of Mr Jeremijenko’s concerns, he could move to address them.

The Kelvin Grove Urban Village includes 58 businesses and 22 apartment complexes, as well as QUT campus and two schools. (AAP Image/Renae Droop)

“I am so happy that we have had the opportunity to discuss this, because Brisbane Housing Company is a lot owner in the principal body corporate scheme, and so this is an opportunity for me, as chairman, to have a conversation with BHC. We have done this in other situations that have been raised with lot owners, we talk it through and try to come up with a solution,” he said.

“It’s fascinating, and I don’t know what (Peter’s) motivations are, but suggestions that (Ramsgate St) is turned into student accommodation is interesting because there is already substantial student accommodation available in the immediate vicinity and more of the same would hardly contribute to the community diversity that we are all striving for.”

He said he moved into the area in 2012, attracted by the amenities and the diverse community.

“It makes it an interesting place to live,” he said. “(With less diversity) there would be less opportunity to know and live with people who have different backgrounds. It would be a poorer community experience.

“When I walk out my front door and down the street to my shops, likely I am going to meet people I know from my past involvement in different things, an 80-year-old couple or a couple of high school kids, or international students I met in gym working out on weights, a retail shop owner I have a relationship with as I go there regularly. Bumping into different sorts of people in daily life, stopping and having a chat — it enriches everyone’s (life), theirs and mine.”