The Caloundra community has come out in force for the launch of a petition against repurposing the local watchhouse as a youth remand centre.
The proposed 28 to 30-bed facility — set to cost $16.4million over four years — would house young people on remand but also act as an overflow for other similar facilities in Townsville and Brisbane.
More than a dozen executive members of community and business associations plus a neighbouring school — representing hundreds of residents from Caloundra South to coastal suburbs — showed their anger and disappointment outside the watchhouse entrance on Gregson Place off Caloundra Rd.
They were joined by Member for Ninderry Dan Purdie, Member for Kawana Jarrod Bleijie, Sunshine Coast Division 2 councillor Terry Landsberg and long-time Caloundra resident and former deputy major Tim Dwyer.
Mr Bleijie said the State Government needed to be upfront with residents that a youth remand centre was a jail by another name “and it will change Caloundra forever”.
“The people that will be in this facility will have been alleged to have committed serious offences including sexual offences, violent crimes, weapon offences, home invasions,” said the former Corrections minister, Attorney-General and minister for Youth Justice.
“These are serious youth offenders that have (allegedly) committed serious offences not only on the Sunshine Coast but also in Brisbane, in Ipswich, in Logan and Beenleigh. They will be here.
“And what happens when you have a youth detention centre or a youth remand centre? Their friends visit, their families visit and they will likely not leave the area.
“I know about youth detention centres and I know the issues that they do bring into communities.
“It’s bad news for Caloundra and it’s bad news for the Sunshine Coast and today our communities say, ‘No! We’re not going to have it’.
“So, I plead with the community, please sign this petition.”
For a copy of the petition, go to www.nocaloundrajail.com.au
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor with your name and suburb at Sunshine Coast News via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au
Mr Purdie, a former Sunshine Coast detective, said that while grassroots police could not talk openly about the youth remand centre plan, “they are seriously anxious about this”.
“One of them even said to me, ‘Anyone who thinks a watchhouse and a remand centre is the same thing has rocks in their head’,” he said.
“You arrest someone, you take them before the local watchhouse, straight away they get processed, they then get released on bail to appear on their own undertaking or if they get remanded in custody, they get sent to a remand centre.
“The adult equivalent is Arthur Gorrie, a maximum security prison in Wacol. Find me anyone who will tell you that Arthur Gorrie … is not a jail.”
Mr Purdie and Mr Bleijie had been told Youth Justice Department officials already had been on-site, taking building measurements.
“They’ve been here with tape measures,” he said.
“They’re talking about a carpark the police use out the back being converted to a basketball court.
“Obviously the people at Gregson & Weight funerals aren’t happy about that. The people at the palliative care hospital behind us aren’t happy about that.”
Member for Caloundra Jason Hunt said he encouraged residents to engage through a petition on anything they felt strongly about “as long as the petition is factual and not deliberately or inadvertently misrepresenting a particular issue”.
He saw community safety benefits from a youth remand centre in Caloundra.
“We know that the current facility is used to house adult offenders from time to time. So, in that sense, nothing has changed,” he said.
“When the facility is running, the centre will be run by officers from Youth Justice and will not impinge on the operations of the local QPS (Queensland Police Service) staff.
“I am, however, pleased that a youth justice facility will be sharing space with a large police station as I think that only adds to the element of community safety that this facility will further enhance.”
Mr Hunt believed there was support for such facilities.
“The community of Caloundra, like the rest of Queensland, wants to see offenders of any age face the ramifications of their offending behaviour and they also want to see offenders able to access facilities that will help them target their offending behaviour,” he said.
“These young offenders should be able to access programs and education while in a contained and secure facility. I do not want these young people wandering the streets where an alternative is available.”
Caloundra Safe and Australian Pensioners and Superannuants League branch president Frank Gower described the move as “a band-aid solution, without doubt” and not a good fit for the area.
“We need an establishment away from the main city – a nice greenfield space where they (alleged offenders) can learn farming, they can learn husbandry for animals,” he said.
“If you’re going to do it, do it right. This is a jail. This is not rehabilitation.
“It’s a jail and that’s the worst part about it. You’ve got one, two, three major retirement villages within here … youth crime, any crime will bring elements that you don’t want.”
Mr Dwyer warned against decommissioning the watchhouse.
“Our watchhouse behind us might be under-utilised at the moment, but the State Government through the SEQ Plan is demanding the local government accommodate 500,000 people in the region by the end of 2040,” he said.
“So, to take the watchhouse out of the equation by making it into a youth jail doesn’t make sense.”
Cr Landsberg (pictured) said that since the council received a ministerial infrastructure designation a few weeks ago for comment on the repurposing of the watchhouse, he had been “inundated” with concerns from community groups, nearby educational facilities and the Caloundra Chamber of Commerce.
“I will be taking this to my fellow councillors this week for support,” he said.
“I’d like to look at different options that have been put on the table. I do believe that we can look at different locations on the Coast.
“I’m not saying we don’t need it but we need to work with our state government.
“Before this became public, I did approach our State Member (for Caloundra) Jason Hunt and we formed a delegation and did initiate a meeting with the Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard next month.
“On the basis of how quickly this is moving forward, we need community support. And that would be the most important way of turning this decision around.”
Aura Safe founding member Ryan Jeffcoat, a former NSW detective who moved to Queensland in 2018, was scathing in what he called the “disingenuous and deceitful politics behind Labor’s decision”.
“They promised a new (Caloundra South) police station, they promised a minimum of 150 new police officers for the region within the October announcements and they’ve delivered on none of that and they’ve hidden this costing in the budget to build a (youth) remand centre,” he said.
Mr Jeffcoat believes the Aura community is in desperate need of greater police presence.
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