Traders’ cry for help
A CAIRNS business owner is fed up with trading in fear of attack and says both police and the council need to step up and confront crime plaguing the CBD.
Theo’s Shoe Hospital owners Monica and Allan McLeod had a charity collection tin stolen from under their noses by a group of rowdy young women on Monday.
It was the last straw and they are now calling for action to halt public drinking and intimidation from drugaffected passers-by on Shields St.
“We are not safe enough here anymore,” she said.
“They reckon they have cleaned it up but we have just moved it from one part of town to another.”
Ms McLeod worked in the business for 20 years before taking on ownership from her father two years ago.
She said the business was struggling, and not just because cobbling was a dying art.
“It’s dead – there is no one around. A couple of months ago, the Night Owl was in lockdown for about an hour, (because of) a bloke on ice. I couldn’t get out of there and you think the police turned up? No,” she said.
“And when you do get people in who are drunk or on drugs, it’s hard to talk to them and hard to get them to leave, too. They go off their head and then start throwing things,” Mr McLeod said.
“And a lot of our customers are elderly and they can’t move real quick to get out of the way.”
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch has been a customer of the Theo’s Shoe Hospital for many years and says Shields St has a problem.
“This is a law and order issue and needs to be addressed. I think it’s a tragedy when you get iconic businesses like this one,” he said.
“Unfortunately, particularly in that area, it is a too common occurrence”