DEER Park residents are sick of seeing soccer players change and urinate in the open at the Bon Thomas Reserve.
Sunshine George Cross Football Club has been using the reserve for the past couple of months for its soccer training.
Neighbours living near the reserve claim the players are blocking the narrow streets by parking cars in their driveways.
Former Brimbank City councillor Marion Martin, who lives near the reserve, said many residents had approached her with their concerns because they were getting no response from the council.
“There’s a problem with no toilet facilities and they’re using the back fences to urinate and change where kids are playing on the playground from the local streets,” Ms Marion said.
In a letter sent to the council this year, the club’s chairman, David Pisani, asked the council to enter a joint venture to develop the site for the club at the reserve.
“For a variety of reasons the club has no choice but to relocate from its current home base at Chaplain Reserve on Anderson Road,” Mr Pisani said.
He said the club would continue playing its home games at Chaplain Reserve until the new premises were completed.
A Brimbank City Council spokeswoman said there was no agreement between the council and the club for the use of the reserve.
“Last year after the council was informed that the Sunshine George Cross Football Club were using Bon Thomas Reserve as a pre-season training ground, a letter was sent to the club informing it that it would have to make an application to use the reserve,” the spokeswoman said.
“No application was received and we understand the club stopped using this ground,” she added, saying the council did not receive any information indicating that the club has resumed using the ground for training.
Ms Martin said she still saw players practise regularly at the reserve.
“How can you stop a club from just walking in and using it; anyone can walk on to that land. There’s no gates that they have to unlock, they just park in the streets and use the ground,” Ms Martin said.
The club’s president failed to return Star’s calls.
