Business owners hit out at alley misuse
The alley adjacent to Kyabram’s town hall building has been attracting anti-social and “filthy” behaviour, according to the owners of nearby businesses.
Simone Sudholz from Catharina’s Vintage Stitches said she’d had enough last Friday morning after finding faeces smeared across the path near the main entrance.
The alley is the primary access for customers coming from the parking facilities at the rear of the town hall, where public toilets are also located.
“We have customers coming down because their main source of parking for us is at the back, the only all-day parking around here,” she said.
The issue of misuse of the alley had been growing in recent weeks, according to Ms Sudholz, who said it frequently attracted loud and drunken behaviour and she saw no evidence of the site’s security gates being locked at night.
The behaviour was also potentially in breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, which were eased last week.
“The shire is meant to be in charge of locking this, but it hasn’t been locked for 12 months. Who’s in charge?” Ms Sudholz said.
Local takeaway owner James
Christofas said he was aware the alley was being misused, with people loitering for lengthy periods and often consuming alcohol.
“They just do what are they doing, drinking and smoking. They sit there all day. You can smell it through the walls,” he said.
Campaspe Shire Council infrastructure general manager Jason Deller confirmed the alley was owned and maintained by the council.
“Council engages a security service that locks this alleyway each night between 10 and 11pm, along with a number of other facilities across Kyabram,” he said.
“Our parks and gardens staff then unlock each morning and clean the area.”
While council had received no complaints, according to Mr Deller, an inspection of the site on Friday, September 10, indicated the need for a pressure clean, which was undertaken at the weekend.
“Staff are investigating options to lock the area earlier, and any impact this may have on adjoining business needs,” he said.
Kyabram police said they would increase patrols through the area.