Business owners at ‘tipping point’
LITERALLY beaten and broken, desperate city traders powerless to drive positive change warn it will take a tragedy before serious action is taken to address armed robberies, assaults, drunkenness and vandalism in the CBD.
A recent spate of serious incidents, including the assault of a Lake St shop owner on Saturday, an unprovoked attack on Ali Kebabs owner Syed Ali and an attempted armed robbery with a box cutter at Lake St this week has overwhelmed city business owners devastated by an inability to create a safe place for staff and clients.
A regular victim of vandalism at her Lake St Adventure Cairns and Beyond outlet, Erryn “Ezzy” Wells said street violence reached new levels on Saturday when an angry mob of youths allegedly high on deodorant inhalants turned on a neighbouring shop owner.
“It was disgusting,” she said. “(After chroming) they kicked off, abusing and damaging stuff.”
Ms Wells said it was a matter of time before fed-up shop owners were pushed too far and driven to retaliate against troublemakers.
“We’re all on the edge. And one of us is going to end up in jail,” she said.
“It’s the assaults every day, getting abused every day when you’re in the shop.
“And people pi--ing and spewing in the street.”
Lake St nightclub owner Dominic Davies said he had owned the Woolshed since 1994, but recent events contributed to the CBD situation being the worst he had ever seen it.
“(Business owners) are at a tipping point,” he said.
“Tourism and hospitality business have to stay (in the CBD), but if I had an office, I’d definitely be relocating.
“We’ve got our own security and we can afford to do it to insure our clients are safe. But during the day, Cairns is open for business, how would you feel if you walked into this?
“If you were visiting another town (where this happened) what would you tell your friends?”
It’s understood police vehicles were deployed to the Shields St pedestrian mall on Thursday night in a presence activation designed to deter unruly itinerants and teen troublemakers.
An exasperated city trader, who asked not to be named, said she had given up.
“They won, they have broken me,” the business owner said.
“Nothing changes significantly, (it) will improve for a little bit and it goes back to normal,” she said.
“Something will finally be done when something really bad happens.
“The other day some guy ... started pi--ing in front of the shop,” she said.
Ms Wells called for a complete ban on the sale of deodorant cans in the city due to the violent side-effects of chroming.
“Get rid of aerosol cans if we want to get rid of crime and make it a beautiful city,” she said.
In 2019, Lake St Woolworths suspended the sale of deodorant spray cans, but sales have since been reinstated.