It sounds like a nightmare – the house next door has smashed windows, graffiti scrawled on the walls, rats in the long grass, and squatters coming and going as they please.
But this is reality for residents of Bernhardt Avenue, and it has been like this for at least five years. The Hoppers Crossing house has been abandoned, and residents are fed up with a property they describe as “disgusting” and “unsafe” next to their homes.
Nick Miriklis has lived next door for 20 years, and hears people coming and going at all hours of the night.
“You get people going in there, drinking, leaving their cans lying around, and making noise. We call the police, but they can’t do anything because by the time they get there, the people have gone,” he said. “I’ve chased people out of there, but they keep coming back.”
Marilyn Scott, who lives a few doors down, is concerned for the children who are often playing on the street.
“I’d say it’s like a construction site, but it’s more a destruction site,” she said.
“The people going into the house aren’t the kind of people you’d invite inside for a coffee.
“We’re at the point where we’re sick of it. We reported it to the council and they said there was just one broken window. There’s obviously a lot more than that.”
The neighbours want the property barricaded by the council to deter people from entering.
Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said the council received one complaint about the property this year.
“At the time of our initial inspections, the property owner was not …in breach of any local laws,” she said. “The property has now reached a point where intervention is required.”
