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'Disrespectful': Schoolies anger locals with 'disgusting' beach act

A number of Sunshine Coast locals are furious after part of a beach was closed down due to Schoolies leaving behind rubbish on the sand, including broken glass.

The 2020 school year for Queensland’s Year 12 seniors ended on Friday and thousands of teens were expected to pack the Sunshine Coast.

While it’s not known exactly how many attended the annual festivities in Noosa this year, the council wrote on Facebook on Sunday it had to close part of Main Beach after a party on Saturday night.

Broken glass bottles seen on Noosa's Main Beach after Schoolies 2020.
A party on Saturday night saw Schoolies leave behind broken glass on Noosa's Main Beach. Source: Noosa Council

“Due to a Schoolies gathering overnight a part of Main Beach has been cordoned off this morning to allow Council staff to clean up a volume of rubbish including broken glass,” Noosa Shire Council wrote on Sunday.

“Surf lifesavers have managed to open a small area for beachgoers. Our staff are working hard to clear the rubbish and hope to have Main Beach open later this morning.”

The mess has left some residents disappointed, with one person saying: “Absolutely disgusting. They should be banned from any further beach activity.”

“I’m all for them having schoolies but this disrespectful,” one woman wrote.

“You have to be disappointed that they can't respect the environment but it's all Income for Council and Unit Owners as well as restaurants and eateries,” another woman said.

“The council should just have had in place workers at 6am to deal with it. I'm sure they did but [they’re] just letting people know so thank you Noosa Council.”

Main Beach, Noosa, is seen cordoned off for clean up after Schoolies 2020.
Part of Main Beach has been cordoned off while it's cleaned. Source: Noosa Council

“Wow the number of comments blaming the council, how about place the blame were it should be, the irresponsible schoolies who think that trashing a local beach is how to have fun,” one man wrote.

A third woman added: “How disrespectful, they don't deserve to be here.”

But others were willing to be far more lenient.

“They just finished 12 years of schooling and are about to enter the real world with responsibilities,” one man wrote.

“Let them have their week of fun. The beach will be cleaned and back to normal in no time.”

Another man wrote the Year 12s “deserve to cut loose” and encouraged them to “stay safe”.

“Go hard schoolies,” he wrote.

“Can't imagine the stress you've had this year. Year 12 plus Covid.”

A Queensland Police spokesman told Yahoo News Australia everyone was generally well behaved and the beach mess was a “storm in a teacup”.

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