A sporting club volunteer says problems with youths “just don’t stop”, after he was involved in an alleged wounding earlier this month.
Rob, who did not want his last name published, is a volunteer at Caloundra Cricket Club, which is based at Roy Henzell Park, between Oval Avenue and Arthur Street.
He says “the place is turning into a sh*t fight” after he and another volunteer, who did not want to be named, were allegedly involved in an altercation with a group of youths.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said a teen had been charged.
“A 16-year-old boy has been charged in relation to an alleged wounding incident in Caloundra around 3pm on June 6,” they said.
“Police will allege the boy was with a group of youths at the Caloundra Cricket Club, when they were approached by the 50-year-old alleged victim (the second volunteer) and another man, who asked them to leave.
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“The group moved on but a short time later, an altercation allegedly broke out near a shopping centre involving the two men and the same group of youths.
“At some point during the incident, the boy allegedly produced a knife and the victim suffered a cut to one of his fingers.
“A 16-year-old boy has been charged with one count of wounding. He is due to appear before the Maroochydore Children’s Court at a later date.”
Rob, 58, said he was left with some minor injuries but the 50-year-old fellow volunteer required hospital treatment.
“Mine are all grazes and stuff,” he said. “I went home, the missus used Dettol and Betadine. I’m all scabbed up now.
“(The other volunteer) had to go to SCUH and do an incident report with the doctors because he had stitches in his hand.”
Rob, who is on the committee of the cricket club, said problems caused by youths in the area were ongoing.
“I’m a full-time volunteer down at the cricket club and I deal with them nearly every day,” he said.
“They’re just terrible – no respect. They don’t care.”
He said the problems included lighting fires, vandalism and graffiti.
“It just doesn’t stop. I don’t know what will come out of it. Every time we take the graffiti off, it just comes straight back on,” he said.
“Someone said there’s this anti-graffiti paste that you can paint on, so it doesn’t stick or wash off, but that’s just another cost to a community sports club that is poor.”
The police spokesperson said measures were being taken to combat crime in the area.
“Police are committed to reducing crime through community engagement, developing local strategies and working with our partners in government and non-government agencies,” they said.
“There are a number of operations underway targeting youth offenders.
“Operation Victor Unison was launched across Queensland on March 1, to target youth crime and enhance community safety.
“It involves police officers conducting high-visibility patrols in intelligence-driven hot-spot locations, including public spaces and residential areas.
“The boosted patrols are coordinated in addition to day-to-day policing operations, and enable officers to walk through shopping precincts, deploy to hot-spot areas, conduct bail checks and engage with young people.”
Related story: Club hit for six amid wave of unruly youths
State Member for Caloundra Jason Hunt said police had performed admirably to reduce crime around Caloundra.
“At a recent community meeting in Aura, the officer-in-charge of the Caloundra station indicated that we live in one of the safest communities in Queensland,” he said.
“And the police stats for our region back that up entirely. It is a genuine credit to our local QPS officers.
“We are a large and rapidly growing area. All indications are that police officers have done a genuinely remarkable job in keeping crime to a minimum.
“We will experience instances of antisocial behaviour from time to time, and we probably always will, but our community is one of the safest in Queensland and we should be proud of that fact.
“Recent changes to our youth justice laws, backed with bipartisan support in parliament, have seen a reduction in the number of offenders being granted bail, which is very much in keeping with community expectations.
“I am very proud to have secured a significant increase in policing numbers for the existing Caloundra station and as we saw (last week) in the state budget, there is further funding for our second police station, which is a campaign commitment I gave to Caloundra in 2020.”
Rob said the problems weren’t restricted to the cricket club and were affecting other sporting and community groups.
“According to council, when I met with them last week about something else, I said, ‘The vandalism, we can’t keep up with it’, and she (the council officer) said it was happening to all the sporting clubs. It really is a problem,” he said.
“They could offer me no solutions, apart from maybe you could apply for an emergency grant to help repair all of this stuff, which we have done.”
A spokesperson said removal of graffiti and vandalism was a priority for Sunshine Coast Council.
“Council provides on-the-ground support to local not-for-profit sporting clubs in instances when damage presents a potential risk to public safety,” they said.
“Council also offers emergency grants of up to $3000, which clubs can also apply for to help fund rectification of damage to their property.
“Over the past 12 months, council has contributed more than $120,000 towards remediation works as a result of vandalism on public assets.
“These works are prioritised as critical works by council, to return these important public assets to service.
“Graffiti impacts our community socially and financially. Graffiti that is not removed can attract more vandalism. Its management is everyone’s responsibility.
“To support a shared response to managing graffiti, council has developed a Graffiti Action Toolkit.”
Rob said he appreciated the efforts of police in keeping the community safe but wanted to see more done to prevent problems.
“That whole area down there, walking between our two ovals down there at Caloundra, is just a sh*t fight,” he said.
“The cops are doing everything they can. It’s the courts that don’t do anything … The pollies have got to hear this.
“The kids know they’re not going to get into strife. They can’t get touched. They don’t care. It’s very ordinary.”
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
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