Pensioner ordered to remove fake camera
A WOMAN who installed a fake security camera outside her home was ordered to immediately remove the device as she had broken public housing rules.
Cairns North pensioner Suzanne Balsdon was concerned that her neighbours were going through packages left on the front door of her public housing unit, so she installed a security camera to deter the thieves, earlier this year.
The plastic camera was not connected to any power, but within a few days of it being installed, she was contacted by the Department of Housing and Public Works who ordered her to remove it.
“They told me they had 15 calls of complaint ... and that it was Department of Public Housing policy that you’re not allowed to have security cameras,” she said.
“That weekend, I went through every piece of paper that they had ever sent me and I couldn’t find anything about cameras.”
She sought assistance from Cairns MP Rob Pyne, who questioned Public Housing Minister Mick de Brenni about the policy.
Mr de Brenni, in a response tabled in State Parliament late last week, said tenants who wanted to install non-standard items, such as security surveillance systems at their property, must seek approval from the department.
“The department gives serious consideration to the health and safety of tenants and to their particular circumstances and security concerns when responding to such requests,” he said.
Ms Balsdon, however, believed she was being unfairly targeted.
“My next door neighbour has got an ornament of a gecko screwed onto her wall,” she said. “I really don’t think she got permission for that.
“My camera was an ornament, because it wasn’t even real.
“It seems that everyone else can do what they want, but I’m the one who is getting kicked in the bum all the time.”
editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost
DEVELOPERS of KUR-World commenced further dam works at the Kuranda site yesterday. A rock toe is to be placed on the downstream batter as part of dam works for the eco-resort site, approved by Mareeba Shire Council. The works are expected to be completed by Friday. Heavy equipment will be operating on site between 7am and 6pm each day. Truck movements along Myola Rd will avoid the Kuranda School drop-off and pick-up times. The developer, Reever and Ocean Pty Ltd, was granted retrospective approval by the council for the dam works.
Theft from boat case
POLICE have charged a Woree man with the theft of items from a boat parked on a trailer in Mooroobool earlier this month. The 18-year-old allegedly took flares, a knife and some computer related equipment from the vessel on Callum St on June 1. A 15-year-old allegedly found in possession of the items and has been charged. The older male was charged with entering premises and committing an indictable offence and is due to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on June 29.