Residents calling to have their street closed off as the rear access to a Tarneit shopping centre will have to wait a little longer for a resolution.
Wyndham council will conduct a safety audit of Wyndham Village Shopping Centre’s rear access point, which leads onto Rosewood Place, in conjunction with local residents, police and centre management.
A petition signed by 62 people was tabled at last month’s council meeting, calling for the closure of this rear access to the centre in the interests of safety.
The petition claims the access point, near the loading bays of the shopping centre and backing onto Rosewood Place and neighbouring streets, is the cause of a range of “unacceptable” issues for neighbours.
The petition claims that young people are congregating at the back of the shopping centre, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs and drinking alcohol.
Residents have also expressed their concerns that gangs and opportunistic thieves are using the Rosewood Place access to enter properties, from where they steal cars, break into homes, and graffiti the adjoining electrical station.
A report tabled at Monday night’s council meeting did not support closing off the access point.
However councillors voted for an alternative motion, put by Cr Peter Gibbons, to conduct a safety audit that focuses on crime prevention through environment and design solutions.
A further report will be presented to the council on possible solutions to fix the problem area.
Cr Gibbons said it was important to come up with a solution that all parties will be happy with.
“I myself have visited the site on a number of occasions prior to this petition, and I do think that perhaps the closure of the pedestrian gateway may be considered,” Cr Gibbons said.
“But I have not been privy to the matters other than what is in the petition, and so I’m prepared to wait and see what the outcome of a full investigation might be.”
