The petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the house: We object to the removal of the Police Beat from Arndale Shopping Centre for the following reasons: • Having Police Beat within Arndale Shopping Centre allows easy access to Police Services by retailers within both Arndale Shopping Centre and Springwood Mall. • A dramatic reduction in thefts/shoplifting within Arndale has been noticed since Police Beat set up within the centre. We believe theft will rise once Police Beat are not patrolling regularly. • Public knowledge of where Police Beat is at Arndale Shopping Centre is very high. • Police Beat is accessible by all the community via public transport to the centre. It is understood that there is a proposal to place the Police Beat in a house rather than in a shopfront. Our objection to this is as follows: • The comparative cost of purchasing a house and fitting it out is much greater than staying at Arndale Shopping Centre. This money could be better spent on additional police for the area. • We believe a house would be less accessible to the retailers of both centres as well as the community as a whole. • Lower socio-economic groups without transport may find it harder to access a house. Any bus services that would be offered could not compare with the number of services to Arndale Shopping Centre. Our petitioners therefore request the House to retain the Police Beat within Arndale Shopping Centre.