BY NATALIE GALLENTI
SEETHING Albion residents were left bewildered last week when a petition with more than 300 signatures presented to council went mysteriously missing.
The petition, which called for the laneway behind Albion Primary School to be closed down, was intended to be addressed at last Tuesday’s Brimbank Council meeting, however the gallery was told it had been misplaced, leaving concerned parents with no other choice than to send in the petition once again.
In June Star revealed parents from the small school had organised a petition asking for the laneway, which they described as a ‘hot spot’ for drug users, to be shut down.
At the time, Albion Primary School principal Matt Coughlan said on any given Monday he would arrive at the school grounds to find as many as 10 syringes scattered in the laneway or even in the school grounds.
Two months on and with summer fast approaching, parents claim the situation has become worse.
Paula Bissett, a petition organiser, said last Monday week was particularly bad.
“Monday morning was atrocious,” the frustrated mother said.
“It wasn’t just syringes; there were bottles of beer, Cruiser bottles.”
Ms Bissett said it was disappointing the petition had to be lodged again and it meant the problem would not be solved any time soon.
Another parent, Melissa Callaway, said her first thought upon hearing the petition was lost was “you’ve got to be kidding”.
“We put in a lot of hours walking the streets, door knocking,” Ms Callaway said.
“There was such a good response from the community.
“It shouldn’t have to get this far.”
Ms Callaway said the council’s claim that it inspected the site every morning was dubious, particularly as there were always syringes there at the beginning of school around 8.30am.
“We’re ringing them every morning,” she said last Wednesday.
“There were two in the school yard this morning.”
The mother of two said only last week a council worker came, after being called by concerned parents, armed only with a plastic bag, to collect the syringes.
Albion Primary School assistant principal Adrienne Williamson said this hiccup would not deter the tight-knit community.
“We’re talking about kids using the laneway,” Ms Williamson said.
“With daylight saving coming, it will be particularly bad.
“We’ll be continuing our fight.”
An Albion resident who resides close to the laneway said he lived in constant fear and only recently a man, who appeared to be high on drugs, climbed over his back fence claiming to look for his ball.
The resident grabbed a broom to defend himself, however the man pulled out a knife. The scared resident and his wife were forced to lock themselves in the room, before the man left their property.
Paul Younis, general manager of infrastructure and environment, said council had provided clearing and disposal units for the school.
Mr Younis said the area was part of the monthly graffiti clean up and inspections had been increased from once a week to a daily basis.
However the council did not respond to questions on how the petition was lost.
