Tarneit’s Ecoville Community Park has had a facelift thanks to a community working bee last week – but residents fear the site will be vandalised again once police stop patrolling.
Victoria Police Commander Russell Barrett said he had been pleased to see families use Ecoville’s tennis courts and other parts of the park after the council, the owners corporation, police and the state government joined forces early in the new year to start cleaning the site up. Graffiti was painted over and rubbish picked up during the working bee last week.
Commander Barrett said police had been actively responding to resident concerns at Ecoville Park for the past 12 months and had launched Operation Ecoville in early November to crack down on youth offending and anti-social behaviour being committed predominantly by African and Pacific Islander young people.
Despite concerns in the community, less than 10 offences have been recorded at the park in the past 10 years, according to the Crime Statistics Agency. No offences were recorded in the two years to September, 2017.
“The sort of behaviour that has been exhibited in and around the area over recent weeks will not be tolerated and we will continue to actively police the area to ensure the safety of residents,” Commander Barrett said.
But an Ecoville estate resident said that while things had settled down in the past fortnight, residents had endured months of crime and public disorder.
The resident fears the problems will resurface once the police presence decreases.
“Nearly every night up till about 1am, all you could hear is yelling, stuff getting smashed and bashed,” the resident said.
