Residents woken at 5am by rave parties in Pizzey Park pine forest
A crackdown is to be launched on overnight rave parties springing up at one of the city’s most popular sporting and recreational parks.
Gold Coast
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A crackdown will be launched on overnight rave parties springing up at one of the city’s most popular sporting and recreational parks.
Residents in a petition to Gold Coast City Council say parties are being staged on Friday and Saturday nights deep in the forests at Pizzey Park at Miami.
Council and police have investigated but it has proven difficult to track down the organisers or the exact location after DJs packed up speakers and amplifiers.
In their petition, residents said: “These are extremely well organised parties with their own strobe lighting, a DJ and a generator. Generators are run by petrol or diesel. It’s a fire hazard in a pine forest.”
Officers investigated council’s records and found two related complaints and one inquiry from the Queensland Police Service in 2021.
They found a brass band had been playing “somewhere” in the park and the rave party was a wedding.
Police confirmed there were complaints about excessive noise coming from “the area near the pine forest” where there were large numbers of people gathering.
“QPS advised that this was a regular complaint received and that they would attend and issue an abatement notice,” a city officer said.
Petitioners admitted the number of parties had decreased so far this year but event in late March went until 5am.
“There were no park usage permits issued for an event on this night,” the city officer said.
Residents are being told to contact the city’s after hours service the next time a rave party occurs in the precinct.
City officers had conducted patrols across two weeks late last year with no results.
Under existing laws a permit is required for a person to remain overnight in a park and operate generator or use sound amplifiers.
They can be fined if found to be acting in an “offensive, threatening or insulting manner” or cause “excessive annoyance to another person”.
Residents are also being advised that police have powers whereby they can give directions for people “to move on”.
They can make arrests for drug and alcohol use in parks.
About 45 residents had signed the petition. The Bulletin is seeking comment from area councillor Pauline Young who had been in meetings.
The community for the past two years had provided positive feedback to Cr Young on a master plan for Pizzey Park across several stages to be completed by 2035.
The council in 2020 released new designs showcasing a $50m overhaul of the precinct to include Olympic skatepark precinct as part of the first stage.
Part of the rebuild of the premier sports precinct included the $18m redevelopment of the Miami Aquatic Centre.
The council owns the 60 hectare site and the pine forest, on Sonia Street near the baseball nets, is a popular spot for couples to get married.
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