Residents plead with council to stop anti-social behaviour

By Lia Bichel
DRUGS, alcohol and loud music – it’s a nightly occurrence at the Jan Wilson Community Centre car park according to nearby residents, and they want action immediately.
Noble Park resident Gilda Di Ciro said she was fed up with the nightly hoon activity which had been plaguing Halton Street for years.
“It’s been happening almost every night for many years,” she said. “Sometimes there are 10 cars parked there, sometimes more.”
Groups of people park their cars, play loud music and leave a trail of rubbish and broken beer bottles behind them, Ms Di Ciro said.
She told the council at a meeting on Monday night that she would like action to be taken in an attempt to deter hoons from the car park.
Charlotte Ruffino has been minding dogs at her daughter’s home, on Halton Road, and says she and her husband are constantly picking up McDonald’s wrappers that have blown from the car park into her daughter’s property.
They recently picked up and disposed of four syringes found in the car park.
“We pick up a lot of rubbish,” she said.
Councillor Maria Sampey supported Ms Di Ciro’s concerns by suggesting to the council that extra lights should be erected outside the centre to deter people from parking there at night.
She later said installing additional gates might be another option.
Cr Sampey said she was not aware of any loud music coming from the popular unofficial nightspot, but was aware that there was a recurring issue of destructive nightly activity at the centre.
“This has been a problem for years,” she said. “The people who go there at night have been very brazen lately. It’s ridiculous. People can see them from the streets. No-one is willing to approach them, but something needs to be done.”
Cr Sampey said she believed the people parked in their cars at night were doing drugs and feared they could also possess weapons.
“The cars are parked there for a long period of time,” she said.
“I don’t know if they are shooting (up drugs) in there. If they were exchanging drugs they would just park, drop it off and go. I don’t want to approach them. You never know if they have knives or something.
“If they want to destroy their lives that’s their issue, but they can’t destroy ours.”
City of Greater Dandenong Community Services Director Mark Doubleday said the council was made aware of issues relating to hoon behaviour and excess rubbish at the Jan Wilson Community Centre and took a number of actions in an effort to prevent the behaviour.
These included ensuring regular police patrols, increasing nightly security patrols by a private security company, providing daily cleaning of the car park, installing lights and signs, and installing a gate at the side of the centre.
“We are pleased to note that all of our observations, including feedback from centre staff indicate a significant improvement regarding these issues,” he said. “Council will continue to monitor the situation, especially the views of residents and centre users.”
Cr Sampey said she would continue her fight to protect local residents if the disturbances continued.
“I’m not the type that backs off,” she said. “Once I bite, I bite.”
Springvale Traffic Management Sergeant Scott Roberts urged any residents who witnessed hoon activity to notify the police.