Leafy suburb in chaos over urinators
Residents of a glitzy seaside suburb in Sydney’s northern beaches say they are fighting back against drunken “yobbos” taking over their quiet cove community.
Brendon Lansdowne and Elizabeth Malwood have lived in Manly for 17 years but claim they have never seen such excessive drunken behaviour.
The pair reported a whopping 30 instances of illegal urination, even on their doorstep, in one night as part of their unofficial “pee patrol”.
Despite providing photos of the culprits to police, the pair told the Today show on Tuesday that little had been done to stop them.
“The coppers down there are amongst the best in the world. Why aren’t they grabbing these people and charging them,” they said.
“The attitude of these people when they’re approached about their actually illegal behaviour … it’s a sense of entitlement.”
The pair reside opposite what is known locally as “The Office”, or East Esplanade Park, a popular party spot during the warmer months of the year.
To prevent “disorderly behaviour”, the Northern Beaches Council in 2022 introduced an 8pm curfew on consumption of alcohol at the park.
An additional public toilet block was also installed, in part because of illegal urination, joining another already located on the wharf.
But, despite the changes, Mr Lansdowne and Ms Malwood said more needed to be done, including an earlier 6pm booze curfew.
“Because they’re in such a drunken state, they are staggering around to find the nearest tree, bush or door,” the pair said.
“I mean, we have them urinating in our doorway … some of them are just literally on people’s front doors.”
In a statement to The Daily Telegraph in regard to behaviour at the park, the Northern Beaches Council said its rangers worked in collaboration with police.
“Police and rangers monitor the area for anti-social behaviour, with rangers referring any incidents to police,” the statement said.
“Police respond to anti-social and criminal behaviour, including the issue of penalty notices for public urination.”
