By Margaret Maccoll
Groups of about 200 teenagers aged 15-16 years have been heading to Noosa Heads, Peregian Beach and Sunshine Beach on weekends to drink alcohol and create havoc and police are urging parents to take some responsibility for their behaviour.
Noosa senior sergeant Ben Carroll said over the past few weekends youths had travelled to the coastal villages from Coolum and Noosa hinterland areas including Pomona and Cooroy.
The weekend before last police were called to a disturbance at Peregian Beach.
Last weekend police responded to notification of a party being organised in Hastings Street that began about 7.30pm and continued until 2am. Police called in reinforcements from neighbouring police districts to assist them to deal with the youths. They also worked with Translink to gauge their movements. In one instance Translink notified police of 60 youths on a bus making their way to Noosa Heads from Coolum.
A lot of young people were busing to the coast from Coolum, Pomona and Cooroy, he said.
“We tipped out thousands of dollars of alcohol at the bus stop at Hastings Street,“ snr sgt Carroll said.
While police were dealing with a group of youths at Noosa Heads they received word of another group of about 30 youths causing a disturbance at Sunshine Beach.
“They’re all on social media. We’re in one spot so they move elsewhere,“ he said.
“We made three arrests of juveniles for abusive, foul language directed at police and disorderly conduct.“
Social media also reported disruptive behaviour from youths running across the rooftops of shops at Sunshine Beach.
Snr sgt Carroll said some youths came from outside the region but many were students at Coolum, Sunshine Beach and Noosa District state high schools.
This week police planned to work with the child protection unit to visit local schools to discuss this issue.
“Police can’t solve this problem on their own,“ snr sgt Carroll said.
“Police are urging parents to know what their children are up to on the weekends and to take parental responsibility. We implore parents to take responsibility.“
Police hope the return of sport that has been cancelled over recent months due to Covid-19 restrictions will provide some students with alternate avenues for their activities and dissuade them from involvement in recent unwanted behaviour.
