Bendigo council will advocate for more police, surveillance and outreach officers to address violence and anti-social behaviour in the CBD.

Councillors endorsed an alternative motion to the “proposed response to escalating incidences of violence in and around the central business district” tabled at tonight’s council meeting. 

The motion, forwarded by councillor Lisa Ruffell, retained the original proposals calls for extra police officers dedicated to keeping the city safe, improved closed circuit TV cameras monitoring Hargreaves Mall as well as dedicated education and liaison officers to help reach out to disaffected youth. 

However the former Hargreaves Mall trader also called on her council colleagues to endorse a plan to make sure a councillor from each of the three wards attended Bendigo safe community forums to make sure the crackdown on violence “kept moving forward”. 

Related: Live coverage of tonight’s council meeting

Cr Ruffell said council needed to step up its role to address an issue which had intensified following cuts to police, education and community outreach programs. 

“It is an ongoing concern and it is happening right across Australia – young people do not have a place to go,” Cr Ruffell said.

“Whether it’s our fault as a society or whether they just don’t want to get education, I don’t know … but this motion is about trying to go forward on the issue.”

All nine councillors voted in favour of Cr Ruffell’s motion, however some offered alternative solutions – including closing down the mall entirely. 

Councillor Helen Leach commended the work down by Cr Ruffell but said, if she had her way, the mall be would got rid off. 

“If something isn’t done soon we will lose businesses,” Cr Leach said. 

“But, frankly, I think the thing to do would be to get rid of the mall entirely.” 

After endorsing the plan for increased security in the CBD, council will now lobby the state government to see 10 extra sworn police positions to be created in the Bendigo service area. Five of those would be assigned to the city itself, in response to a recent escalation of violence in the central business district. Though all spoke in favour of the plan, several councillors disagreed on the root cause of the problem. 

Councillor Peter Cox said the issue was not confined to the mall but one which was being felt across the city and the country – and had been going on for generations. He said he has been contacted by one supermarket which had to call the police everyday for a week and another in which a security guard was attacked. 

“But first and foremost everyone deserves to work, shop or recreate safely,” Cr Cox said.

“People following traders at the end of day to car parks is just not on – that’s why we need greater emphasis on what needs to be done in the mall, additional police and additional CCTV.”

Councillor Elise Chapman said she believed the issue was specific to the mall – and had been going on there for several decades.

However, she also identified underlying social problems, including drugs, and said council needed to provide spaces for young people to recreate. 

All councillors spoke about the people who were directly affected by the issue. Councillor Mark Weragoda said he had spoken with pensioners who were too afraid to cash their pension cheques in the mall. 

Among the security measures endorsed tonight was an upgrade and expansion of CBD surveillance systems and the introduction of “more effective processes” including hand-held cameras for police. 

Furthermore the city will look to employ a 12-month dedicated Department of Justice outreach worker role to oversee and facilitate on-site responses to escalating issues in the CBD and a dedicated “education liaison officer” to provide support to schools and workplaces.