Local businesses in the CBD of Bairnsdale have had enough of the drug and alcohol-affected individuals frightening not only their staff, but customers who have said they don’t want to come to town because of the crazed behaviour of ratbags who run unrestricted around the town.
Anthony Scott, of Bairnsdale Tattslotto, whose family have been trading in Bairnsdale for the past 50 years, said he has never seen the streets of Bairnsdale so bad.
Only last week a person was bashed across the street from his shop on the corner of Nicholson and Bailey streets.
Mr Scott said it is a sad state of affairs when people don’t feel safe in the streets of Bairnsdale.
“The situation needs to stop,” he said.
He said he would like to publicly call on civic leaders, East Gippsland Shire mayor Cr Tom Crook, local State MP Tim Bull and Federal representative Darren Chester to fix our town’s real and perceived unsafe environment.
“They are our elected government representatives and they have a responsibility to action for the safety of our community and our business community,” Mr Scott said.
Main Street trader Bernie Eastman, of Sportspower, said the way to fix the antisocial behaviour in the CBD is simple.
“We need to have police doing a random walking beat twice a day as they have in the distant past,” he said.
“It worked, people feel safe on the streets and the antisocial behaviour subsides.”
Fellow Main Street trader, Annemieke Jongsma said threats, violence and antisocial behaviour in the CBD have exponentially increased.
“My staff are scared and feel that when they report incidents of threatening behaviour towards them they aren’t listened to or believed because they weren’t physically harmed or the person had mental health issues,” she said.
“It is getting out of control and something needs to be done.”
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David Schmidt, owner of Mr D’s on Main Street, said he has recently had mad individuals come into his restaurant and throw tables around with customers present.
“It was a frightening experience for all of us,” he said.
Mr Schmidt said it was like a war zone last Friday night when a mad man came in threatening staff and customers with a beer bottle.
“This sort of ongoing behaviour is bad for business and to make matters worse for Service Street traders, people are camped at the library of an evening yelling and screaming obscenities,” he said.
Mr Schmidt said he was looking at restricting opening hours so staff do not feel so vulnerable.
“That is a terrible situation for Bairnsdale,” he said.
Deputy president of the Bairnsdale Chamber of Commerce, JJ Driscoll-Plavins, said the chamber have had numerous complaints from traders frustrated by antisocial behaviour, but nothing changes.
Mr Driscoll-Plavins said only last Saturday morning he was grabbed forcefully on the forearm by a stranger out the front of 62 Degrees in Nicholson Street asking him to get him a coffee.
He said the experience was unnerving and depressing.
“For the aged residents in our community that experience could be life threatening,” he said.
“How do our citizens feel safe in our community? It is a very sad situation.”
