Bring order to mall

THE mall precinct of Little Malop St which runs into the Moorabool St bus stop has long been a blight on Geelong that is holding our inner city back.

Were this area to be brought to life and, to use the jargon, activated in a positive way, you could see it spreading to the whole of the inner city.

One only needs to cross Moorabool to the west end of Little Malop to see what a lively, attractive, functional strip looks like. mB

The area is changing, of course. For one, a modern fit-out is being rendered on an old discount store building so it can be the future base of this newspaper.

But deeper issues remain that are overwhelmingly the result of the anti-social behaviour of some who regularly congregate there.

Even when this behaviour falls short of the criminal — the so-called “mall rats” spitting and shouting abuse at one another and members of the public — it is still intimidating enough, particularly for children and the elderly.

The local police maintain a watch, through cameras on ‘Mall Rat TV’. But despite our former policeman mayor saying they should establish a regular presence, that has not been done so far.

Many schemes have been tried over the years.

Peaceful music is piped into the area. Giveaways have been staged to attract the elderly to the area under the assumption the ‘mall rats’ would behave better in the presence of their elders.

But no scheme has properly worked.

The PSO scheme being mulled by the Government is worth considering.

These officers have been extraordinarily effective in reassuring the public of their safety on metropolitan railway stations.

Whether they are the right fix for our mall and bus stop issues remains to be seen. The right solution will likely involve real police with full powers.

What is clear is that something tougher is needed to clean up our inner city and move on the anti-social elements.