Palmerston Recreation Centre: Council rescinds open door policy due to anti-social behaviour
A Top End council has rescinded its open door policy at its popular recreation centre due to an epidemic of anti-social behaviour, leading staff to occasionally have to lock themselves inside the building.
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A Top End council has rescinded its open door policy at its popular recreation centre due to an epidemic of anti-social behaviour, leading staff to occasionally have to lock themselves inside the building
On Friday, the City of Palmerston implemented a new policy for its Palmerston Recreation Centre, wherein users of the facility can only freely access it between 8–10am, after which they will require a booking.
The centre, which boasts more than 380 user groups, previously had an open door policy.
According to a report presented to councillors at the council’s October 15 ordinary meeting, the decision was taken due to “ongoing incidents of anti-social behaviour in and around the [centre] that have placed users and staff at personal risk”.
“Staff have received feedback from the users of the centre that they frequently do not feel safe in the centre,” the report stated.
“Staff have been intermittently locking the building front door when tensions appear high in the building proximity or as needed.”
Employees are mostly responsible themselves for maintaining the facility’s security, with the intermittent assistance of RMI Security, which has the contract for the Goyder Square Security Patrols.
The council estimated it would cost $115,000 per annum to fully staff the centre with security.
Leaving the centre available from 8–10am would demonstrate “good will”, the council report stated, as it would still allow locals experiencing homelessness to use the showers and toilets pro bono.
Recorded anti-social behaviour was also lower during this time frame.
The new policy will also see the creation of “informal” meeting spaces in the foyer, which can be booked free of charge.
The new policy will be in place for three months initially, after which the council will either rescind it or make it permanent, pending a report being delivered to councillors on the success or otherwise of the trial.
A business owner who runs fitness classes from the facility, and who asked we withhold his name, said he fully supported the new policy.
“We would like to use it [the centre] more, but because of all these situations and feeling unsafe, we’re currently only using it once a week,” he said.
“People have been making a ruckus, having fights.
“We’ve got locals who actually sleep on the perimeter of the centre, we get there in the morning and they’re drunk already, or still recovering from the night before.
“So, we’ve had issues of locals being drunk, and a bit of domestic violence between them as well.”
The business owner added he also felt his clients were at times at risk at Gray Community Hall and SWELL Palmerston due to anti-social behaviour in proximity to those venues, such that he is now staging some classes all the way out at Zuccoli.
Pilates instructor Alex Hurt said the only time she ever felt unsafe at the Palmerston Recreation Centre was when she held outdoor classes at 5pm in adjoining Goyder Square, where they were disrupted by the “drinking and partying going on”.
However, once centre staff made space for her inside, she never had issues, Ms Hurt said.
A council spokesman said the new policy struck the right balance between competing priorities.
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Originally published as Palmerston Recreation Centre: Council rescinds open door policy due to anti-social behaviour
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