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Brisbane City Council has been accused of unfairly targeting nightclub goers with its zero-tolerance approach to littering.
Official figures show more than two-thirds of all Brisbane littering fines were issued in the entertainment precinct last year, earning council almost $1.5 million.
Simon Turner from the Fortitude Valley Safe Night Out Precinct said it was outrageous that people were fined $252 for dropping a cigarette butt on the footpath.
"There is no antisocial behaviour attached to it and we question the aggressive and antisocial way ticket inspectors are going about it," he said.
He said council hired police officers to work with ticketing inspectors who targeted patrons lined up outside clubs for dropping cigarettes.
"I don't believe the ticket inspectors have the power to spy on our patrons," he said.
"While I don't condone littering - sometimes it's an involuntary action.
"It's not fair, it's un-Australian and nor is it conducive to a city that spruiks a liveable lifestyle."
Mr Turner said there were some international tourists who had been in Australia for less than seven hours who were issued with a fine while visiting the precinct last week.
"Venues also are losing an incredible amount of revenue because of this," he said.
Brisbane City Council stood by its policy.
In a statement, the council said it was committed to keeping Brisbane "clean, green and sustainable".
"People should do the right thing with their rubbish by putting it in the bin instead of dropping it on the footpath."
The council said inspectors patrolled the precinct together with police to enforce a range of issues - not just littering.
| Total | Fortitude Valley | |
|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | 11,597 | 5,851 |
| 2015/16 | 8,869 | 5,424 |
| 2016/17 | 8,713 | 5,891 |
Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, lifestyle-and-leisure, arts-and-entertainment, fortitude-valley-4006, qld, australia