12 December 2019
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Red Frogs Australia and local Police were pleased with the outcome of Rye Schoolies Week which ran from 23 – 30 November 2019.
With an increase in services and the trial of a designated safe space zone for school leavers on the Rye foreshore, all parties were happy with a week that was incident free.
Shire Mayor Sam Hearn said the increase in services was to support the influx of visitors and associated community concerns raised last year.
“Community safety and a duty of care to the visiting school leavers was a priority for us”.
“We were particularly happy with the way the school leavers used the safe zone space which became a popular and positive hub throughout the week”.
“The success of this trial space is something we are very keen to see implanted again in 2020, we will also discuss further improvements that can be made to this approach of implementing school leaver activities in a safe and controlled environment. “
“I would like to thank our Youth Services staff on the ground, the local police officers and the generous support from Red Frogs and DanceWize.”
“Our visiting school leavers should also be commended for their behaviour and I trust they had a great time on the Peninsula” conclude Mayor Hearn.
Building on this year’s success, the Mornington Peninsula Shire will continue to advocate to the State Government for a fair contribution to Schoolies week. This support is needed to assist with the logistics of managing the yearly influx of visitors from all parts of greater metropolitan Melbourne.
