Burleigh crime: Traders fear tourists will be scared away from once idyllic suburb
Traders fear Burleigh’s reputation as a safe destination is in peril after the attempted firebombing of a major venue and a serious assault on a tourist within just six nightmare days. Full story.
Police & Courts
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Burleigh traders fear tourists will be scared away after a wave of frightening incidents including an attempted bar firebombing at the embattled beachside suburb.
A visiting family of five from Victoria were attacked on Goodwin Terrace last Friday after leaving the Burleigh Pavilion, where they had just had dinner.
Police said four men and two women had become involved in a verbal altercation with the family before one of the tourists – a 53-year-old man – was seriously assaulted.
He suffered multiple injuries to his face and was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital for surgery.
Six days later the Burleigh Pavilion faced an arson attack, with a fireball erupting when a container of petrol was thrown onto a rear deck.
The attacker was armed with more containers of petrol but by chance some staff had stayed later than usual and were able to scare them away, likely saving the building.
The incident has been linked to nearby anti-social behaviour.
Multiple business owners said staff had suffered verbal intimidation and were afraid to walk to their cars at night. This newspaper has also been told of incidents going unreported to police, because business owners feared “retribution” from groups plaguing the area.
Hermann Vorster, the LNP candidate for state seat Burleigh, said traders were increasingly worried.
“It’s not just impacting safety of their staff - now it’s impacting the likelihood of customers coming to visit and spend money at their shops,” he said.
“Burleigh is fast becoming a feature of our destination marketing campaigns. It’s an authentically Gold Coast destination, where people can have fun in a relaxed atmosphere.
“But if we have tourists who are affected by anti-social behaviour, who are threatened, they are going to take that message back home. That’s going to undermine our efforts to market ourselves as a safe place where tourists can come and support local jobs.”
Mr Vorster said the Burleigh Pavilion arson attack was the latest in a string of frightening incidents linked to groups responsible for anti-social behaviour.
“This isn’t the first report of arson affecting a business, and I know at least one other takeaway shop recently had kids start a fire in retaliation to those owners speaking out against anti-social behaviour,” he said.
“We’ve got anti-social staunching escalating to altercations with staff and now escalating to arson. We’re really worried where this is all going to end.”
Mr Vorster said businesses wanted to see greater police resources into Burleigh urgently. He also took aim at state government, saying it had allowed night-life to emerge without a plan to manage the impacts.
“The state government has allowed the emergence of a night-time economy in Burleigh Heads with no strategy to properly manage it. This laissez faire attitude has meant we have imported big city problems into a relaxed coastal village.
“Traders have had a gutful. They feel totally abandoned and an afterthought as far as the state government’s concerned. That’s absolutely something that needs to be addressed.”
In an exclusive report, the Bulletin on July 31 revealed how policing on the Gold Coast is engaged in a major restructure. The ‘Futures’ project has examined where demand is greatest and includes significant changes to rosters for frontline officers to send resources where most needed.
Assistant Commissioner Brian Swan said the night economy emergence on the southern Gold Coast was being factored in.
The latest serious incidents come in the wake of a Bulletin series highlighting the growth of anti-social and criminal behaviour in Burleigh.
Police investigations into the August 2 tourists assault and arson attack on the Burleigh Pavilion six days later are continuing. No arrests have been made in either case.
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