Brisbane Council Accused Of Targeting Clubbers With Huge Littering Fines

Entertainment Precincts have a tendency to divulge into unattractiveness as the hours of the night wear on and certainly more can be done by punters to help keep the areas in reasonable nick, but even still this has revenue raising written all over it.

Brisbane City Council is copping a wave of criticism after statistics revealed a disproportionate number of littering fines were tossed out to people out and about in the Fortitude Valley nightclub district.

Stats released by the council show that more than two-thirds of littering fines issued in the 2016-17 originated in the Valley, accounting for 5,891 out of the total 8,713 littering fines given out. At an eye-watering $252 a pop, this means the council raised a bee’s dick under $1.5million from Valley littering fines alone.

While some littering fines are more legitimate, Safe Night Out organisation officials state that the council has been hiring police officers to march with ticketing inspectors as they targeted patrons lining up outside nightclubs, stinging them with the whopping fine for the egregious crime of dropping a cigarette butt.

Simon Turner from the Fortitude Valley Safe Night Out Precinct group told ABC News that the fines were outrageous and did not fit the crime of stubbing out cigarettes on the ground, which he asserted carries no anti-social impact.

There is no antisocial behaviour attached to it and we question the aggressive and antisocial way ticket inspectors are going about it. I don’t believe the ticket inspectors have the power to spy on our patrons.

While I don’t condone littering – sometimes it’s an involuntary action. It’s not fair, it’s un-Australian and nor is it conducive to a city that spruiks a liveable lifestyle. Venues also are losing an incredible amount of revenue because of this.

Brisbane City Council only responded by issuing a statement, backing up their “clean, green, and sustainable” policies and suggesting that all patrons pick up after themselves.

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