Glebe harbour park to go dry

BY JOEY FENAUGHTY

A proposed extension of the alcohol-free zone in Jubilee Park has provoked ire among some Glebe locals.
Police have stepped up patrols of the alcohol-free area in Jubilee Park in Glebe, coinciding with a proposal to extend the prohibition zone to the foreshore.
An alcohol-free zone gives police the power to move on any person suspected of drinking alcohol within the area outlined. If a police officer reasonably suspects that you have been, or are about to consume alcohol in an alcohol-free zone, they also have the power to confiscate or tip out your alcohol.
This extension seems out of sync with the current tone of the City of Sydney council, which has recently removed as many as 62 alcohol-free zones around the inner city and harbour.
Glebe Point Residents’ chair Susan Cleary says it’s not the first time an attempt has been made to cut booze out of the foreshore.
“Two to three years ago an extension of this zone was proposed by the council, and in discussions with them it was agreed the action was not necessary, as we have no problems in the park. I don’t know why the matter is on the table again”
However, Police Inspector Gary Coffey from the Leichardt Local Area Command, in charge of the area, said, “Leichardt LAC has [recently] received two resident complaints in relation to late night drinking in Bicentennial/Jubilee park.”
A formal application has been made for the extension of the alcohol prohibited zone and will be available for public view in September.
Glebe resident Hannah Dusta (22) thinks that any extension of the current zone would be overkill. She told City Hub, “I’ve lived near the park for 2 years and I’ve never experienced people being drunk in it or causing a nuisance.
“I haven’t seen people drinking in the park in a way that would be cause enough for a council order to facilitate new laws. It seems ridiculous to me. There is already an alcohol night curfew in place, which curbs anti-social behaviour. I think this is probably more a result of the gentrification of the inner west.”
A spokesperson for Keep Sydney Open shared her concerns, stating “It looks like there’s no end in sight to Sydney’s war on fun. The locals are locked out, the homeless are locked out and now it looks like the backpackers are getting locked out too. These backpackers are trying to make their own fun because they’re not allowed to go out in the city.”
The proposal to change and extend the alcohol prohibited areas in Glebe to include:
Bicentennial Park area 1
Bicentennial Park area 2
Federal Park area 1
Jubilee Park
Pope Paul VI Reserve
Blackwattle Bay Park