By Jonty Ralphsmith
Shattered glass in an unnamed, dark laneway behind Ian St, Noble Park has punctured the tyre of an employee.
Chellappah ‘Ambi’ Ambikaipalan from ‘Ambi and Associates’ got home on Monday 6 June to see the puncture after he had run over the glass, further fuelling his belief that action needs to be taken.
“I can’t pinpoint anyone who is doing it but it’s just one of the incidents that is causing a lot of concern for people in various ways,” he said.
The area is viewed by shop owners as dangerous, messy and a sanctum for drug and alcoholism.
There are about six shops on each side of Ian Street with the RSL nearby and there is reasonable foot traffic but it is removed from the main strip of Noble Park.
Ambi previously told Star Journal that police have been called out several times to the laneway and action needs to be taken.
“Things are happening daily for the last four or five years,” Ambi said.
“We’ve been pestering the council because youngsters use it for fighting and other activities and it gets flooded like anything.”
Other issues at the laneway include graffiti, rubbish dumping and other damage to cars.
City of Greater Dandenong councillor Eden Foster had previously raised the issue at a council meeting, and confirmed on Wednesday 8 June that liaison is occurring with the officer of suburban development and the Noble Park Revitalisation Board to get funding for upgrades to such laneways.
Cr Foster said a solution in the meantime was needed and suggested that police could conduct walks through the laneway to deter criminality or unruly behaviour, an interim solution Ambi would welcome.
