Redland CEO bans granny after she called for council to crackdown on laneway crime

A southside council has barred a woman from council offices for a year over complaints about crime in a council lane outside her home where a policeman was brutally beaten.

Victoria Point resident Maria Sealy at the gate which is between Victoria Point Shopping centre and the tavern and a lane to her property. Pictures: Contributed

A southside woman has been banned for a year from her local council with regards to complaints about crime in a council laneway where a policeman was brutally beaten last year.

Redland City Council chief executive Andrew Chesterman has barred Victoria Point resident Maria Sealy from direct contact with council over safety concers about Teak Lane.

She is also barred from phoning, writing letters or sending emails or video about crime in the laneway, which runs between her house and a local tavern and shopping centre.

The ban was instigated in February after Mr Chesterman claimed the grandmother had emailed the council on more than 12 occasions over a period of two weeks about alleged crime and drug deals in the lane.

Teak Lane, which Redland City Council holds in trust for the state government, runs behind Ms Sealy’s home and is connected to the busy HomeCo Victoria Point Town Centre and Victoria Point Tavern by a gate, which is locked from 10pm to 4am.

In a terse letter to Ms Sealy, the council CEO said: “I note that you are displaying behaviours in the following areas, unreasonable persistence, unreasonable lack of cooperation, unreasonable argument and unreasonable demands,” the letter said.

“At that time (after 12 months) we will review your restriction and decide if it should be maintained, amended or withdrawn.

“I take these steps with the greatest reluctance, however, equity and impact on the time and resources of council leaves me no alternative.”

A copy of the letter to Maria Sealy from Redland City Council CEO Andrew Chesterman.

The CEO’s missive followed a similar email from the council’s top lawyer Andrew Ross in June which told Ms Sealy to “limit your emails to substantially new issues”.

It also followed an email from Senior Land Officer with the state government’s Department of Resources Louise Schefe who told Ms Sealy in June to send complaints about Teak Lane and the road reserve to Redland council.

“Firstly, if there is any unsavoury/delinquent behaviour at night in the reserve, then this should be referred to Queensland Police Service,” Ms Schefe said in a letter to Ms Sealy.

“I encourage you to contact the Redland City Council regarding access and signage issues as they are responsible for the day-to-day management of the reserve land and they are also the managers of the ‘road’ (Teak Lane).”

Ms Sealy said she was dismayed after receiving both letters and said she had been forced to complain about the same issues and crime rate for more than 10 years because the council had failed to patrol and secure the laneway.

She said she was following the instructions from the state to refer complaints to the council and said she did not believe lodging email complaints with the council was “unreasonable persistence”.

HomeCo Victoria Point Shopping Centre with yellow marking the lane and gateway.

“It’s the council’s land and this crime has been going on for more than 10 years,” she said.

“Every weekend, we endure noisy, drunken people urinating on our fence and yelling and swearing in the laneway, which is a dark strip of land where people can easily hide.

“I would love to stop complaining about the same old issues but until the council fixes the crime problem and locks the gate, we will have legitimate grounds for complaints.”

Since 2006, Ms Sealy has been begging the council to permanently shut the gate with her pleas reaching fever pitch last May when a male police officer was brutally bashed at night in the laneway, metres from her house.

A Redland City Council spokesperson said “council does not ban residents from contacting the organisation or council officers, but places them on a tailored 12-month communication plan to manage unreasonable complainant conduct.

“In this instance, the resident is restricted to correspondence by mail or email and cannot include matters regarding the Teak Lane accessway.

“In accordance with Redland City Council’s Managing Unreasonable Complainant/Customer Conduct Policy and Guideline, Council assesses and manages customer conduct that raises substantial health, safety, resource or equity issues for the organisation, Council employees, other service users, or the customer himself/herself.

“The Policy and Guideline are based on the Queensland Ombudsman’s process for managing unreasonable complainant conduct.

“Each case is individually managed and reviewed.

“Customers can appeal a restriction by lodging an Administrative Action Complaint with Council.

“This form is available on Council’s website.

“Council does not like enacting this policy and engages in many months of correspondence with customers before it is enacted.

“The Policy and Guideline applies to Council employees and Councillors.”

Redland council has installed a light pole but the strip of land remains unpatrolled by security guards at night and the council has refused to allow Ms Sealy keys to lock the gate.

The lane took on prominence in 2017 when the previous shopping centre owner, Lancini Group, tried to buy the land from the state government for a carpark but was rejected by Redland council and then lost a 2017 court appeal.

Since then, the new shopping centre owner HomeCo, has backed Ms Sealy’s bid to have the gate shut permanently.