By Margaret Maccoll
While guests dined at high class restaurants, sipped cocktails and danced to music in Hastings Street on New Years Eve thousands of teenagers took to Main Beach to congregate in a large, rowdy rabble that police struggled to control.
Described as “amped-up“ the mob took over the area from the surf club to the sea where, illuminated by spotlight, they mingled, then spilled on to surrounding footpaths.
The revellers presented a confronting scene for passersby as their noisy New Year greetings were punctuated with scuffles and foul language.
Hastings Street Association said they agreed in consultation in November with Council not to host an illumination display or fireworks this year to deter attracting further crowds to Noosa Main Beach, after the cancellation of NYE Fireworks at Mooloolaba.
If left unmanaged, New Year’s Eve could be one of the most precarious times of the year as consuming alcohol is part of the celebration for many and the potential risk, related accidents, and damages as a result, they said.
However the crowd was not deterred.
Police started work at 4pm on Hastings Street on New Year’s Eve operating from a control centre set up next to the Police Beat and working alongside Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) and Red Frogs youth support network.
Senior sergeant Ben Carroll said police intercepted underage youths coming into the precinct, mostly on buses, confiscated thousands of dollars of alcohol and tipped it out. “We were the busiest area on the whole coast,“ acting senior sergeant Troy Cavell said.
“A lot younger age group – 14, 15, 16 year olds were there drinking. That was our main problem.“
The other problem was a lack of public transport to take them home, with bus services ending at 11pm, he said.
With all available police officers posted in Hastings Street and extra resources sent from Maroochydore there were 28 officers covering Main Beach, Noosa Woods, Little Cove and Lions Park.
Acting Snr Sgt Cavell said there were 28 arrests on the night for public order offences, about 30 infringement notices issued for possession of alcohol and three or four charges for drug offences.
QAS established a triage unit to deal with a continual stream of people brought in for assistance.
Unit manager Neil Pinto said six paramedics staffed the unit from 6pm to about 3am with most patients treated for intoxication.
He said depending on the assessment to their condition the patients were transported by ambulance from the unit to Noosa, Nambour and Sunshine Coast University hospitals or a responsible adult was contacted to come and collect them.
Red Frogs Australia director Andy Gourley said the Red Frog teams handed out 2000 cups of water to try to keep people hydrated and cooked up 1000 sausages. He said the group had teams at the emergency services triage and surf club as well as roving teams looking after everyone that had drunk too much.
Andy rated it a good night overall for his team with no major incident and good support from the surf club and local businesses.
Hastings Street Association held concerns over the behaviour of youths on the night
“Whilst many enjoyed seeing in the New Year in restaurants, bars and private gatherings, it was evidence that many youths were drinking alcohol unsupervised and the volume of minors who appeared to be supplied by adults was incredibly concerning,“ they said. “We fully appreciate the combined efforts of our local Service crews who worked through the night for the benefit of our local community and visitors.”
Noosa Surf Club supporters club manager Anton Mogg said overall it was a good night and the crowd of youth outside was something they had come to expect.
At Rococo Bar and Bistro, New Year’s Eve was a popular sit-down event, enjoyed by many. “We had strong security on the night,“ they said.
