East Esplanade: Residents say anti-social revellers in Manly, are impacting their mental health

Police have been asked to send a strong message to drinkers at East Esplanade who are using people’s property as public toilets and threatening local residents.

Police need to do more to deter revellers drinking at a public reserve in Manly from using people’s private property as public toilets, a council meeting heard.

On Tuesday night, councillors voted unanimously to request police do more to tackle anti-social behaviour by issuing on-the-spot fines.

It followed an emotional speech from Joel Outram, a father and resident, who gave examples of how living opposite was impacting people’s mental health.

A motion had been put forward by Cr Pat Daley to ban alcohol 24/7 at the reserve, locally known as ‘The Office’ and regarded by many, including families, as a great place for a sundowner.

However, residents say there has been an escalation in anti-social behaviour this summer.

Cr Daley agreed to an amendment by Cr David Walton, calling on cops to start addressing the issue and to send a stronger message, after realising he did not have enough support to ban booze at the park.

Pat Daley is against allowing alcohol at The Office. Picture: Damian Shaw

Mr Walton told the Manly Daily the majority of visitors do the right thing, but a minority are responsible for anti-social behaviour that is having a negative impact on residents.

“Police need to send a stronger message to the small minority,” he said.

His amendment also called for a better strategy for dealing with the issue, working with those who support drinking at the reserve and police.

At the meeting Mr Outram choked back tears as he relayed specific incidents that had occurred to residents including people having to bring in their washing before drinkers arrived after witnessing people drying their hands on people’s clothes after urinating.

He also talked about how a single mother and her two daughters were confronted by drug dealers at the front of their building at 4pm one weekend and how an elderly resident has to close her window every because the smell of urine is so strong.

Cr Pat Daley said Mr Outram’s speech was “one of the most emotional” he had ever seen on his time on council.

Mr Outram had also prepared a report for councillors on the collective feedback from more than 30 residents along East Esplanade and adjoining streets, outlines the horrific reality of what residents face most weekends.

Issues he said they faced include:

*Constant urination in the entry/foyer areas, driveways and play areas, pathways, adjoining gardens, bin storage.

*Alleged drug taking and dealing.

*Vomiting at the entry area and surroundings.

*Bottles being left behind when urinating and sometimes breaking on driveway and entry areas, also on footpaths in the surrounding area .

*Aggressive behaviour and threat of violence directed towards residents for asking to stop urinating.

He said many of the buildings along East Esplanade see around 20-30 occurrences of public urination on a busy Saturday.

Mr Outram wrote that the Matthew Bligh building, one of the worst affected, sees 40 to 50 incidents on busy nights.

He said all issues are occurring predominantly in daylight hours and between 3pm and 10pm. Saturday and Sunday is the worst.

Cr Candy Bingham, who supports families enjoying a few drinks in the park, said she doesn’t think Cr Daley’s motion will pass.

Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham is in favour of drinkers at The Office. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

“The motion won’t get support,” she said. “The majority of councillors don’t believe the minority should spoil it for the majority.”

However, she said the council needs “to lift our game and manage the space a lot better”.

She said COVID was to blame for an increase of anti-social behaviour and underage drinking across the peninsula, and that East Esplanade was more visible than most spots where this is happening.

A photo taken by a resident of an apartment block on East Esplanade, Manly, showing where people, who had been drinking in the East Esplanade Reserve, urinated in their driveway. Picture: Supplied

The council has also started paying for security guards and mobile CCTV at East Esplanade following an increasing number of complaints about anti-social behaviour.

Mr Outram said he had decided to compile the report after a particularly awful moment he faced one morning.

“I needed to pick my 2yo son up and carry him over the pools of urine that collect on our driveway over a weekend, so his feet didn’t get wet on the way to our car,” he wrote.

“Regardless of allowing alcohol in the park or not, the residents of East Esplanade are suffering, their health, physical and mental wellbeing is being impacted.

“This is a call for community leaders to listen to them, acknowledge the issues and look after them.”