The Manly Picnic Economy is booming! In just about every park in Manly picnics for five have been laid out and enjoyed by hundreds of locked down residents, especially apartment dwellers WFH and their families.

East Esplanade, in particular is going off again! But sadly we don’t mean going off in a good way. After the sun set and the picnic baskets contents had been consumed the bad behaviour was evident again. As reported in the Manly Observer, on Sunday 3 October, police commenced inquiries after being notified a man had defecated in public near the East Esplanade at Manly about 9.45am. Following inquiries, a 50-year-old Manly man was issued with a Court Attendance Notice (CAN) for ‘behave in offensive manner in public place’. He is due to appear at Manly Local Court on Wednesday 17 November 2021. It was the second public defecation incident witnessed in a week; the two incidents are not linked.

Most people would be really upset if there was an outright alcohol ban at East Esplanade, but sadly a few are spoiling it for everyone; not to mention the huge amount rubbish left behind. A ban of alcohol on East Esplanade was debated again at the most recent Council meeting and a number of Councillors supported such a ban, but the majority voted against it.

This weekend Council installed additional bins as requested at the Office. And thanks to everyone packing up and putting their rubbish in the bins provided, the area was clean and cleared the area by 9.30 pm. Only a few rowdy stayers were in evidence by 10pm.

Aberrant and offensive behaviour previously experienced by the residents living opposite East Esplanade will not be tolerated. The Manly Community Forum supports these residents in their endeavours to protect their private property and at least enjoy their area without being subject to noise from late night brawling and the defecation and urination in public in and adjacent to their homes.

16/10/21 UPDATE: Most of East Esplanade Reserve was fenced off this week by the Council, with ‘grass maintenance’ given as the reason. It’s hoped the restrictions will also provide a circuit breaker and the weekend party crowds will find somewhere else to go.