Rowdy groups of young people causing havoc at Ferntree Gully quarry

TEEN drunks and vandals are turning a popular Ferntree Gully reserve into a no-go area, smashing bottles, fighting and even tipping a young boy out of a kayak. Now there are calls to clean up the area.

DRUNKS and vandals are turning a popular water reserve into a no-go area.

The Ferntree Gully quarry has become a meeting place for teens having booze-ups and punch-ons.

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Ferntree Gully grandmother Anne Power said she visited the quarry about twice a week and often saw rowdy groups of young people causing “mayhem” and smashing bottles.

She said she had seen multiple fights, including one that left a teen with blood streaming down his face.

“It’s awful when you’ve got little kids down here seeing that,” she said.

Mrs Power said security measures such as regular police patrols or CCTV cameras were needed to curb the booze-fuelled behaviour.

Ferntree Gully mother Gloria Coverdale said her eight-year-old twins had both cut their feet stepping on broken glass and her 10-year-old son was tipped out of his kayak by a drunken teenager during the school holidays.

Locals and visitors have raised concerns over people drinking alcohol and engaging in anti-social behaviour at the Quarry Reserve.

She said her husband Paul asked the teen what he was doing, and was met with a spray of expletives from the teen and his mates.

She said they felt so unsafe they left and called police.

“It was disgusting. The teens had just taken over,” she said.

When the Knox Leader visited the quarry last week a group of young people were drinking vodka Cruisers on the deck and another group had sneaked through a hole in the fence to drink near the cliffs.

An empty alcohol bottle floating in the lake.

Smashed bottles and a discarded plastic bottle bong were left next to the water’s edge.

Young people were jumping off railings and part of the decking was still under repair after vandals burnt a small hole through the wooden planks on January 31.

Simone, a 20-year-old from Scoresby who didn’t want her surname used, said young people were giving the area a bad name.

“There are a few spoiling it for everyone,” she said.

“It’s inconsiderate kids not cleaning up after themselves.”

Simone said she had seen drunk people doing dangerous jumps off the roof of the deck and feared there would be another bad injury.

A makeshift bong lies discarded in the grass beside the lake.

In October last year a 15-year-old youth was hospitalised with a fractured pelvis after a failed attempt at jumping from the roof.

Knox councillor Jake Keogh said he hoped the council would review security as part of planned upgrades to the site, which will be considered in this year’s budget.

He said a number of people had contacted him reporting “horrible behaviour”.

“It’s concerning,” he said.

“There are kids playing down there and it needs to be an environment where it’s family friendly.”

Council’s engineering and infrastructure director Ian Bell said the council had no plans to install CCTV cameras and said any security concerns should be reported to police.

Knox Sergeant Melanie Woods urged people to call 000 for dangerous behaviour, or for non-urgent matters, such as littering or drinking in public, contact Knox police station on 9881 7000.