After a detailed roundtable to discuss welfare issues at Fernleigh Track, police officials are confident they’re on top of the situation.
The meeting, at Glendale’s Hunter Sports Centre on Monday 11 August, featured members of Lake Macquarie and Newcastle councils, law enforcement and the community in an in-depth conversation on the safety of the public.
It follows a string of violent attacks and anti-social behaviour exhibited on the Fernleigh Track, including people throwing rocks, alleged sexual assault and dangerous cyclist conduct.
As a result, NSW Police launched a “high-visibility” strategy, which involves routine patrols of the 27-kilometre path and monitoring of both the Adamstown and Belmont entrances.
But, according to Lake Macquarie Local Area Commander Superintendent Tracy Chapman, no on-site arrests have been made.
“We’ve received reports on the issues and obviously investigated those,” she explained.
“However, in terms of those high-visibility patrols or those designated operations, we haven’t detected any offences, other than educating people on e-mobility requirements.
“In terms of our strategy, that’s really about engagement and education as opposed to arresting, unless someone does something right in front of us.”
But, Superintendent Chapman and Police Minister Yasmin Catley confirmed charges had been laid as a result of previous reporting.
“Our investigations… had some limited success and identified some offenders who have been dealt with through a process,” the Local Area Commander said.
“And, for young people, that will sometimes be under the Young Offenders Act.”
Several potential solutions and preventative measures were discussed in Monday’s meeting, including the plans to create a designated committee for the track which will feature members of the police, transport industry, council and community.
“The committee will look at… innovative ways to do the signage that’s meaningful and effective, instead of just putting on the sign and there’s lots of work being done on that,” Ms Catley said.
“It grew much larger than just looking at the safety around the Fernleigh Track and user behaviour.
“It’s now looking at other pathways.
“All of the shared pathways have experienced similar problems.
“So, it’s now looking at a local government approach… to increase signage and education around what a shared pathway is and how people have to use those respectfully.”
Discussions on lighting and CCTV are still underway, with funding currently the main drawback.
Both Lake Macquarie City Council CEO Morven Cameron and City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath committed to scheduling another meeting in the near future.
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