A ruined semi-detached house in York Street, Woodstock, remains a source of frustration for residents of the road.
There are holes in 32 York Street’s brick walls, and it has no roof or windows, and Garth Barry and Narima Sydow, who live on either side of it, are worried about the deterioration of the property.
Mr Barry, who stays at number 30 with his family, complained about growing mounds of rubbish and the stench of faeces at the property.
“At night, there seems to be a constant banging on the walls, and there are always different people coming and going from the property.”
He said he had seen hypodermic needles on the property leading him to suspect that people were doing drugs there.
Ms Sydow, who stays at number 34 with her elderly mother, said Number 32’s front yard had become a dumping site and bricks were being stolen from the house’s broken walls.
“My mother has to listen to the banging against the wall, and we are also concerned that if more damage is done to that building it will damage our building.”
Number 32 was in a poor state when the Tatler visited it 2020, but it now looks much worse (“Concern over derelict house,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 4, 2020).
According to Ms Sydow, the previous owner was a deep-sea diamond diver who became an alcoholic, lost his job and died of a heart attack in 1997 without leaving a will. The man’s friend, who was living in the house at the time, claimed ownership but without any documents to support his claim. He didn’t pay any rates and after he was arrested for murder in the early 2000s, the house fell into ruin.
When the Tatler visited number 32, on Thursday August 29, we found Juliana Gunnell, 52, on the premises. She said she had been living there for the past 25 years, and there were now six other people staying with her.
Ms Gunnell said she and her partner were unemployed and unable to fix the house, which had also suffered damage from a fire.
City Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said number 32 had been declared a problem building by the City.
“This is a deceased estate with no executors or heirs and has been handed over to the City’s debt management department in order for their legal team to proceed with further legal action.”
The City was unable to evict any illegal occupants without a court order, Mr Dyason said. “We cannot just remove people if they are established on the property.”
He said the problem building unit had conducted regular inspections there.
Woodstock police chief Colonel Delven Matroos said officers had dealt with noise complaints at the property while searches of the premises had yielded nothing of a criminal nature
“A fire has caused damage to the building, and we are aware that people are squatting there,” he said.
