THE dilapidated state of Queen Street Warilla petrol station continues to burden residents of the area, who claim it is a haven for criminal activity and puts local youths in danger.
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The privately owned petrol station has been sitting unused and abandoned in the heart of the Warilla community shop precinct for almost 16 years.
Just last week emergency services were called out to the site to put out a mattress that was deliberately set alight by a trespasser. The fire was within metres of two large oil barrels in a shed which backs onto the Warilla Child Care Centre.
As a common place for local youths to gather, residents
expressed frustration and safety concerns: needles are often
found on the site; break-ins and theft are regular occurrences and a pile of sealed asbestos is inside the shed.
In 2013, in an effort to rid the station of its reputation as an “eyesore” and a place for minor criminal activity, a group of Warilla community members developed the Queen Street Servo Project, with the aim of taking something unloved and loving it back into life.
However, Warilla North Baptist Church Pastor Brian Pember, a member of the group, said it had returned to its former state of abandonment.
“The landlord didn’t want us to use it for a while and 12 months later, we still haven’t been able to get back on the site,” Mr Pember said. “Now it’s back looking abandoned and neglected again.
“It is an issue for the community because we live with that in our backyard and see it every day.
“It makes up part of the main community shop strip, it’s right near the park and community centre and is the main thoroughfare to Warilla Grove.”
Mr Pember said the vandalised appearance of the station had had flow-on affects to neighbouring properties.
“A lot of the criminal activity in that area is of an opportunistic type, where people think if everyone is doing it, why don’t I?” Mr Pember said.
“The Girl Guides Hall has been tagged with graffiti and some playground equipment has been damaged. We have just had new equipment put in at Crew Park and we’re frightened that the nature of the garage will spill over into the park.”
Lake Illawarra Area Command (LAC) community safety officer Jason Harrison said police operated by the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) theory.
“This is similar to the old broken windows theory where an area with smashed windows sends the message that if no-one cares to fix it, then no-one cares,” he said.
“There could be a correlation between places that encourage minor criminal activity and an effect on the permitter of that area.
“It’s something the youth in particular, start to associate with. If it’s young people and they’re tempted to partake and seek out something close by, then that’s a concern.”
Officer Harrison said the LAC were limited in what they could do because it was private property.