State Government slammed for plans to turn Caloundra Watchhouse into youth remand centre

Millions of dollars have already been budgeted for plans to turn a Sunshine Coast watchhouse, less than a kilometre from a kindergarten, into a youth remand centre.

Ninderry MP Dan Purdie, Sunshine Coast Neighbourhood Watch member Edith Blanck, and Caloundra resident Matt Taylor are disappointed with the state government's plans to turn the Caloundra Watchhouse into a youth remand centre. Picture: Tegan Annett

Serious youth offenders would be locked up 600m from a kindergarten under plans that the state government has quietly progressed.

Residents and a Sunshine Coast politician are objecting to a proposal to turn Caloundra Watchhouse into a youth remand centre.

Ninderry MP Dan Purdie said he had serious concerns about the new use for the watchhouse, located near an aged care facility, hospital and kindergarten.

He said a remand centre would cause a spike in crime and have similar impacts on a community as a youth jail.

“There has been zero consultation and residents have a right to feel they’ve been misled,” Mr Purdie said.

The government included $5m in this year’s budget for the remand centre.

A youth justice department spokesman said it would be used for people aged 17 years and under but its capacity was yet to be determined.

They said community consultation would be done during the planning approval process.

“The former Caloundra Watchhouse was constructed for a similar purpose and will be refurbished as a short-term remand centre due to its proximity to a police station and a courthouse,” they said.

The Caloundra Courthouse does not have a children’s court.

Ninderry MP Dan Purdie said crime will increase if the state government goes ahead with plans to turn the Caloundra Watchhouse into a youth remand centre. Picture: Tegan Annett

They said the remand centre would be used for “short periods of time” including for when young people were waiting for youth detention centre beds.

Mr Purdie, a former detective, said watch houses and remand centres were not similar and that there was no need for it to be located near a police station.

He said the centre could hold some of the southeast’s most recidivist offenders while they awaited trial.

“Police have told me they are anxious, because they know better than anyone the social implications that surround these types of facilities, and the aftermath when these offenders are released back into the local community,” Mr Purdie said.

“These are serious and violent offenders … Arthur Gorrie at Wacol is the adult equivalent.”

Caloundra business owner and father Matt Taylor said it would be detrimental to the tourism hotspot town.

Caloundra resident Matt Taylor does not want the state government to go ahead with turning the Caloundra Watchhouse into a youth remand centre. Picture: Tegan Annett

“The council has just finished spending millions of dollars over five years upgrading Bulcock Street in a bid to stimulate the area … only to possibly have a jail 200m up the road at the entrance to town,” Mr Taylor said.

“With the recent spike in crime in the Pelican Waters area this is the last thing we need and the last thing that Bulcock Street needs.”

Sunshine Coast Neighbourhood Watch advisory committee member Edith Blanck said residents were rightfully terrified by the proposal.

Ms Blanck, who is against juvenile facilities and sees more value in rehabilitating youths in programs, said residents should have been told earlier.

“My friends who live around here are terrified,” she said.

“These kids will come out here, already angry, and when they’re released how are they going to get around?

“We don’t want these issues in our community.”

The watch-house was built in 2005 with an estimated construction cost of $3m but was never fully used.

Police officers use it to occasionally house prisoners during the day.

Originally published as State Government slammed for plans to turn Caloundra Watchhouse into youth remand centre