People living in Wyndham are feeling less safe, according to a yearly survey.
Results from Wyndham council’s annual community survey found respondents rated safety in public areas of the municipality at night at an average of 5.83 out of 10, compared to 6.94 out of 10 the previous year.
The survey was undertaken by Metropolis Research, which conducted door-to-door interviews at more than 1200 Wyndham homes in 2016.
Metropolis managing director Dale Hubner said people living in newer suburbs such as Tarneit and Truganina often felt less safe than residents in more established suburbs.
“That’s not common just to Wyndham – we’re finding that in Melton and the northern parts of Hume, as well,” he said.
Mr Hubner said that across Melbourne, media reports about home break-ins and the Apex gang were contributing to people feeling unsafe.
The average score of how safe people felt when travelling on trains in Wyndham has also fallen – to 6.79 last year from 7.38 in 2015.
Perceptions of safety in Wyndham’s public areas during the day scored an average of 7.95 last year, down from 8.37 the previous year.
More than 30 per cent of survey respondents who said they felt unsafe in Wyndham’s public areas identified crime, such as theft and robbery, and violence as reasons why they felt insecure.
Statistics from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency show there were 15,482 crimes reported to police in Wyndham last year, compared to 14,371 crimes in 2015.
