By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A FENCED-OFF back yard is no longer a safe play space for some Lakeside kids who are now dangerously exposed to strangers.
An elevated pathway now skirts homes along the living estate’s boundary line, and in some areas barely blocks out pedestrians’ hiplines – which has triggered child-snatching panic among parents.
A father of three said his children, aged two, four and six, were no longer allowed to play unsupervised in their own backyard, beside the pathway that runs between Pakenham police station and Cardinia Road in Officer.
“They can’t play outside without us there with them. People have stopped to talk with them as they’re on the trampoline. It’s very dangerous,” the man said.
The privacy invasion has caused the family to boycott spending time in their outdoor area which was the exact reason they left their previous home in Berwick.
“We moved here four months ago because the pathway at our old house looked straight through to the backyard. Stuff went missing like our kids’ bikes and glass bottle were thrown over. I am worried it will only be a matter of time before the same thing happens here,” the man said.
But the intrusions have already started at his neighbours’ house.
“Three school girls cut through the property and jumped over the fence line about 3.30pm the other day. It’s bad. They could get injured,” said Ursula Szmidt, the mother of Debbie Holt who owns the Lakeside home.
“People can completely see in and see out of our backyard. It would just be so easy for someone to jump over,” mother of three Debbie said.
Debbie’s husband Troy has also caught several school kids’ using the neighbouring block of vacant land as a shortcut and has contacted the council to either extend their fence line or build a separate fence to keep intruders away.
The council has organised for concerned residents to meet with fencing contractors but will not pay for privacy guards.
“It is up to the individual residents to make any alterations, however any fencing alterations are subject to building and planning regulations,” said the council’s Team Leader Engineer Andrew Barr.
Lakeside resident Lisa van Dijk said she isn’t going to wait for council sign off, instead choosing to mount fence extenders last weekend.
“I’ve had people saying hello to us as were eating dinner outside. Our house has a high footpath and people always look in our backyard. We chose this house as we loved that we had no neighbours at the back … We are getting fence extenders this weekend.”
Mr Barr said the council was unable to lower the pathway due to underground infrastructure.
“We certainly encourage pedestrians to respect the privacy of people living in nearby properties, however there are significant underground services in the area which reduced the possibility of excavating and lowering the path,” said Mr Barr.
UPDATE:
The council sent the Gazette a response to the residents’ concerns, which for space reasons was not included in full in the article.
The text of their response is below.
Cardinia Shire Council recently completed a 1.5km shared path, between the Emergency Services Complex in Pakenham and Cardinia Road, Officer. The new path provides significant benefits to the broader community by linking the Pakenham township to the Arena development. Providing a shared path is standard infrastructure required within any road reserve.
Council has been contacted by some residents concerned with privacy issues. Officers have arranged for concerned residents to meet with a fencing contractor to discuss what physical privacy options are available. It is up to the individual residents to make any alterations, however any fencing alterations are subject to building and planning regulations.
While the fence that runs along the pathway at the back of the residential properties is at least six feet high for the vast majority of properties, the path does follow the contour of the land and so there are some instances where the fence-line is lower. We certainly encourage pedestrians to respect the privacy of people living in nearby properties; however there are significant underground services in the area which reduced the possibility of excavating and lowering the path.
While there have been some concerns raised, Council has also received plenty of positive feedback from pedestrians, cyclists and people in motorised scooters who are now able to safely travel alongside the Princes Highway.
