Safety ambassadors will patrol city streets, information kiosks will stay open late and secure taxi ranks will be staffed until 5am as part of a City of Sydney program designed to keep partygoers safe this summer.
On Friday and Saturday nights until the end of March, the City’s late-night precincts will also feature additional temporary toilets, while cleansing crews will be out in force until the early hours keeping the streets clean.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City was working hard to ensure Sydney’s late-night hotspots and streets are safe, welcoming and easy to navigate over the busy summer period.
“Thousands of people take to our streets on Friday and Saturday nights in the festive season and summer months. We want to provide the best possible experience for locals and visitors alike,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Our summertime safety program is designed to ensure people of all ages can enjoy the best of what Sydney’s late-night precincts have to offer, find their way around with ease, and get home safely.
“The summertime program builds on the initiatives we provide year-round as part of OPEN Sydney, our long-term strategy dedicated to developing Sydney’s night-time economy and creating a safe city.
“We have upgraded street lighting, revitalised laneways across the city, implemented a new public toilet strategy and established Sydney’s first late-night super taxi ranks. We also started working with the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation on the Safe Space and Take Kare Ambassador program.
“Both our year-round night-time safety measures and the additional plans in place for the busy summer months make a real difference to the way our city functions late at night and we’re proud to provide them again this summer season.”
Last summer, the Take Kare Ambassadors provided assistance to more than 7,000 people and the City of Sydney’s temporary toilets were used around 13,700 times.
The City’s late-night safety program for summer 2017–18 includes:
- Temporary toilets at Sydney Town Hall, Whitlam Square, Taylor Square and Springfield Mall in Kings Cross, with wheelchair accessible facilities at Sydney Town Hall and Springfield Mall.
- Information kiosks providing maps, brochures and other helpful information for both locals and visitors will remain open until 9pm at Haymarket, Circular Quay and Kings Cross.
- The Safe Space and Take Kare Ambassador program will operate from 10pm to 4am in the city centre and Kings Cross. Designed to help vulnerable young people get home safely, the program’s volunteers provide first aid, phone and internet access, and free water.
- ‘Super’ taxi ranks on Bayswater Road in Kings Cross, Bathurst Street, Pitt Street near Martin Place and Pitt Street near Dalley Street will operate from 10pm to 5am, with taxi marshals, dedicated CCTV cameras, improved lighting and illuminated signs. Seven other secure taxi ranks will also be open in the city centre, Darling Harbour, The Rocks and Kings Cross.
- Late-night cleansing crews will operate from 10pm to 4am to ensure the streets in late-night precincts are kept clean.
- Compliance and enforcement ‘hot teams’ staffed by the City’s licensed premises officers and rangers will help manage noise complaints and conduct compliance checks on licensed premises.
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, contact Communications Officer Julia Lenton. Phone 02 8974 9612 or email jlenton@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au