By ANEEKA SIMONIS
Children housebound because it’s too dangerous to go out…
A PAKENHAM mum is unable to let her son play out the front of their home, which is beside an empty block turned hazardous dump.
Shanelle Dumergue and her family moved into their newly built Pipit Close home in October, in an attempt to replicate the same safe, enclosed space Shanelle enjoyed growing up.
Her dream was to allow her two-year-old special needs son Brody and his seven-year-old sister Chelsea to safely play with other kids in the street – but those dreams were instantly dashed by illegal dumpers who, for months, have piled their dangerous waste onto the unkempt neighbouring block.
It includes jagged pieces of rusted steel that poke out from the ground which is covered in dangerously overgrown grass and steep dirt piles.
“There is so much stuff dumped there like wood, a cat bed, tyres, metal, boxes of rubbish, a hot water service style, bits of sharp steel, a wood palette foam boxes, concrete, a Christmas tree and lots of weeds,” said Ms Dumergue.
Ms Dumergue, who claimed her two-year-old son has ADHD and learning difficulties, said the dangerous block next door has rendered her son virtually house bound because he may severely injure himself if he wandered over to the nearby waste site.
“He can’t process certain things and doesn’t understand danger. He would easily climb up the dirt pile and if he were to jump off, he could really hurt himself,” she said.
“It’s a safety hazard for my children.”
Ms Dumergue said since moving into her home six months ago she has been pleading with Cardinia Shire Council to cut the overgrown grass which she estimates to be standing at around 1.5 meters tall.
“I have been trying to get it done since October last year. I wanted the grass to be cut over summer as it is a fire hazard,” she said.
“I call at least once a fortnight.”
She said unmaintained nature of the block has made it an attractive site for dumpers – and now rats.
“We have found dead rats in our garage and rat poo in the laundry,” Ms Dumergue said.
Cardinia Shire Council’s Compliance Services co-ordinator Shannon Maynard said council issued a clean-up notice to the owner of the vacant block on Thursday 19 March.
“In this instance, the vacant land on which the rubbish was dumped was overgrown and unsightly,” he said.
“Further inspections by council showed these notices were not complied with and subsequently infringement notices were issued on Thursday 9 April.
“Council will consider other enforcement options to ensure the property complies with Local Laws relating to unsightly properties.”
Ms Dumergue said the privately owned block had been vacant since she bought her property in 2013.
