Nightmare neighbours
IRATE residents of Mount Louisa are demanding action on disruptive residents who’ve been placed on their street by the Queensland Department of Housing.
Houses with rubbish and debris piled up almost six feet high, rats and roaches, and abusive behaviour from tenants at properties administrated by the Queensland Department of Housing are just some of the challenges they face.
The residents, who didn’t wish to be identified out of fear of reprisal, said one tenant had gone as far as attacking them when they’d discussed the issues with them.
“What is it coming to, where good, honest, hard working people can’t get into the private market. They’re screaming out for housing, for somewhere to live, and they can’t get in. But this is allowed?” the resident said.
“We’ve got people here who break the tenancy laws and cause all kinds of havoc. What makes them more deserving than someone genuinely doing it hard? It’s disgusting.”
The man, who has been living in Mount Louisa for over a decade, said the problems had been ongoing since houses in the area had been sold to the Department, but had taken an uglier turn in recent years.
“When I moved in, I did my research. There was actually a police sergeant living in the house 15 years ago, after he moved out, they changed it over and sold it back to the department of housing,” he said.
“The tenants before the most recent ones, they had no windows, they ripped the toilet out and chucked it in the backyard. They were damaging the property and it took a long time before they were removed.
“Now, the new tenants are exactly the same thing. We do the right thing, we report it, we go to the police and housing, but nothing ever seems to get done.
“These current problems have been going for about 18 months now.”
While the debris and junk has been piled high for over a year, residents of the neighbourhood said pleas for help, even going as far as enlisting the Queensland ombudsman, haven’t resulted in change.
The resident said the health hazards don’t stop there, with another nearby resident saying pests and other intruders are a constant concern.
“I’m constantly putting down rat bait, you see them running along the fence sometimes.
“There’s cockroaches all over the place, they’ve got filthy mattresses piled up about six or seven high, just lying on top of each other.
“If I was to try and sell my house, I wouldn’t be able to, they’d take one look at what’s in the neighbourhood, at that place, and say ‘no’.”
The Queensland Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy were contacted for comment, but declined to describe what actions were being undertaken to address the issues due to privacy concerns.