Buoy owner Brodie Green says Burleigh Heads needs a permanent police beat
More than 15 years after the community called for a police beat, there is still no permanent police presence in Burleigh Heads … and its reputation only grows worse. Read the most recent incident
Opinion
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It’s the same old song, but somehow Burleigh is still missing the beat.
The police beat, that is.
More than 15 years ago, this very newspaper ran a story in which Michael Hart, now the soon-to-be-retiring Burleigh MP, called for a police beat in the heart of Burleigh Heads, but was knocked back by then Police Minister Neil Roberts.
Instead, the story stated that southern Gold Coast police would attempt to “repair Burleigh’s tarnished reputation and make it a place where families feel safe again” via community meetings.
Sound familiar?
Back in 2009, the minister promised the suburb’s crime prevention options would be reassessed after eight officers were relocated to the detective-only Burleigh Police Plaza.
Fast forward to 2024, the police plaza is gone, the police beat still doesn’t exist and Burleigh’s reputation is worse than ever.
Despite calls from Bond University criminologist and ex-detective Dr Terry Goldsworthy for a police beat in James Street, Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles told the Bulletin in May that while extra resources were being sent to Burleigh, a permanent police beat was not on the table.
Now, this is no criticism of the QPS, they’re doing the best they can with the resources they have, but something has to change.
Whether a police beat or its own station, Burleigh’s CBD needs some form of permanent presence to fight not just the realities of crime in the suburb, but the perception - which is almost as dangerous.
That applies as well to the perception of policing.
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Former Burleigh business owner and current resident Brodie Green said a lack of resourcing meant it took him more than three hours to reach police and report a hit-and-run this month.
Minutes after he was hit, Mr Green called 000 … and waited seven minutes as the operator tried to dial through to police. When he was finally connected, he was told he needed to go in person to the Palm Beach police station to report the accident.
When he arrived at the station, he was told there weren’t enough staff available and he was given a card with a number to call to report the hit and run. He waited on hold for 20 minutes, only to find he had been connected to the NSW police contact centre. Another phone number and another lengthy wait and finally he was able to report the accident.
Three hours after it occurred.
“Burleigh needs a permanent police beat, immediately,” said Mr Green, who this year sold his cafe Sea Dog in Burleigh to relocate to ‘safer’ Nobby’s Beach where he opened Buoy Cafe.
“The police were all very helpful but if that’s how long it takes to report a hit and run, how many other incidents are going unreported?
“If the council and the state want this area to continue to grow and be successful, and they do, they need something central and permanent. Not Palm Beach station, not Broadbeach station, but right here, because there is just too much happening.”
Now, the good news is that the community and local representatives are doing all they can to overcome the reality and the perception of crime in the suburb.
Burleigh LNP candidate Hermann Vorster has made crime central to his campaign for the October election and said a permanent police presence was the circuit breaker required.
Similarly, newly elected Division 13 Councillor Josh Martin said he has been working closely with Division 12 counterpart Nick Marshall, Mr Vorster and Mr Hart along with the suburb’s neighbourhood watch and business groups, as well as police to do all they can on the ground.
He said he saw council as being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the area.
“We’re continuing to invest in our safety camera network, we’re working on more CCTV in public spaces,” he said.
“We’re also looking at future opportunities to enhance community safety … how do we design the built and natural environment so it does not create opportunities for crime? How do we best work with stakeholders like neighbourhood watch and the business community?
“I also really want to invest in tackling this proactively, investing in art and recreation projects, in sports and culture so that the youth are engaged.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what levers we can pull at the council level.”
Still, it all comes back down to one factor.
“A greater police presence really is key. I think Burleigh has grown so quickly as a night-time economy that we’re not far behind Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach … but we are when it comes to police resources.
“This area is too beautiful and too important to the Gold Coast to not find solutions now.”
We can’t keep playing the same sad song. It’s time to find the Burleigh beat.
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