Hall clampdown

By Melissa Meehan
ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour and excessive noise have caused Shire of Yarra Ranges councillors to call for tougher penalties for those who misuse the shire’s halls.
Councillor Graham Warren last week raised the issue of anti social behaviour at local halls within the shire.
The same topic was raised in a earlier meeting last month that saw the council determine that shire officers would continue to monitor the situation and liase with local police regarding any problems in relation to the use of the halls.
However, councillors also expressed their desire to establish harsher penalties for those who break the rules of hire.
Last week after recent events in a number of public halls, Cr Warren again raised the issue of hall use in the shire.
Cr Warren said that the events raised serious concerns about public amenity issues, with problems related to noise, alcohol and anti social behaviour.
He said the most concerning issue was the anti social behaviour linked to excessive consumption of alcohol resulting in criminal damage and nuisance to neighbours.
“Recently an 18th birthday was held in a shire hall and went until 4.30am,” Cr Warren said.
He said he had also heard stories of residents confronting more than 40 drunken youths but being forced to retreat to their homes as police could not attend the party.
“I have also got a call from a couple in Monbulk who are too afraid to leave their homes at night on the weekend,” Cr Warren said. “We have spoken about making the penalties tougher but, to be honest, once the damage is done, it is done.”
Cr Warren said that it was difficult to police the use of shire halls but believed that the council needed to review how it goes about hiring out halls to the public.
“It’s not a simple issue, it needs serious discussion,” Cr Warren said.
“Throughout the state there is a problem with underage and binge drinking and it seems that even parents in our own shire are happy to drop off their 13-year-olds to a party and forget about them for the rest of the night.”
Councillor Monika Keane said she agreed with the review but highlighted that it was important that young residents didn’t think they were being pushed out of the halls.
“We are not trying to stop youths using our halls but we’re trying to help all the community stay safe,” Cr Keane said.
There are 46 public halls within the shire, including 29 managed by committees of management and 17 directly managed by the shire.
Councillors unanimously voted to review the usage of the shire’s public halls and that the issue of binge drinking in the shire was referred to the shire’s Community Wellbeing Advisory Committee.
They also agreed that the council seek external funding for initiatives to respond to the issue of alcohol misuse by young people and that the council write to both State and Commonwealth Governments acknowledging the attention currently being given to this issue and advocating further actions to be taken to address alcohol misuse by youths.