Normanby Hotel patrons’ bad behaviour riles residents
A Petrie Terrace resident has encouraged neighbours of The Normanby Hotel to start filming the bad behaviour of pub patrons as they spill into the streets around their homes.
David Turnbull has had enough. Picture: Josh Woning (Source: News Limited)
Belgrave St resident David Turnbull has started taking photos of patrons in his street and planned to present the evidence to Brisbane City Council and the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation.
After the hotel’s 5 Ways Festival this month, Mr Turnbull said he was woken around 2am and again at 5am by noisy revellers.
He saw a glass door to the hotel had been smashed, and that there had been a car crash near the Kelvin Grove Rd entrance.
Mr Turnbull said he was woken after 3am every Monday by people leaving the hotel, and that Sundays and carpark parties were the worst.
He said he was once in his kitchen around 4pm when he heard a gushing sound in the street.
“I looked around and there was a girl’s white (bum) cheeks hanging out while she was having a wee against the corner of the building, and there was the boyfriend next to her doing the same,” he said.
“We’ve had girls in front of our neighbour’s house squatting in the gutter. I once noticed a guy as he was walking down the street and there was a black line wiggling across the road, and he was weeing as he walked down the middle of our street. Urine is a huge issue.”
Mr Turnbull said noise was also a problem as was rubbish left by people leaving the hotel.
“We had a neighbour who went through tyres on her pram because of broken glass. Rubbish can sit there for days or weeks until someone cleans it up,” he said.
“I do recall seeing a guy who vomited a couple of times then stumbled getting his keys before he drove off, and we had a car that drove down the street and hit a couple of cars. We think it would be lovely to have the police be able to afford to sit here and breathalyse people as they leave.”
Mr Turnbull said he had also seen people getting hot and heavy in his driveway.
“We did nearly run a couple over one day as our garage door was going up. We almost had them pinned.”
He appealed to the hotel to work with residents to address the impact of partygoers and reinstate a security guard to stand at the entry to his street during major events.
He said work was also needed to change the way taxis picked up and dropped off at the hotel.
Fellow resident Libby Galloway has seen more poor behaviour in her neighbourhood.
“We’ve seen people overload a car — they get into the boot,” she said.
“We haven’t had so many brawls, it’s just breakups. Badly behaved boyfriends being told off as they’re walked down the street.”
Ms Galloway said she and other residents just wanted The Normanby to act like they were part of the community.
“If you live in the inner city, you’re prepared for a world that’s got colour — that’s what you like about it. What they need to realise is that they’re part of a community as well,” she said.
“What they probably don’t want but they’ve got is a community that cares about its community. “They are very passionate about their little suburb and they will get together and be an irritant.”
Plans to build a 14-storey development beside the Normanby were thrown out by council earlier this month over the misplacement of an advertising sign, but Mr Turnbull doesn’t believe the plan is dead.
“It’ll come back,” he said.
The Normanby did not respond to questions.
A police spokesman said police regularly patrol, and respond to complaints, in the Red Hill area particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Residents can report disturbances, inappropriate behaviour and make noise complaints by calling PoliceLink on 131 444. If the matter is urgent residents should call Triple Zero.
Source: The Australian, Jasmin Lill, June 26th 2015
