AFTER 45 years of “disruption” from a Housing Authority owned property on Parmelia Way, Bassendean residents are hoping to regain the “peace” in their street.
Bassendean resident James Hearn is among 30 residents who live on the street.
He said anti-social issues and serious crime had been surrounding the house since 1970.
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READ NOW“Housing has said to us that they will do a good background check of the new tenant but we cannot trust them to be confident in doing their job to protect the residents in this street,” he said.
“We do not know who they are and if they come with weapons, obviously the elderly in the area would not be able to do a lot.”
Mr Hearn claimed there was a “riot” on August 18 that involved a car collision and a former tenant forcing her way onto a neighbouring house to seek refuge.
He said residents were disappointed with the Housing Authority’s decision to reallocate new tenants despite their fight to sell off the property.
Housing Authority service delivery general manager Greg Cash said the property became vacant on September 27 after the tenant was evicted for disruptive behaviour.
“Last month, concerned neighbours met with Housing staff to voice their concerns regarding the tenancy history of the property and their request that it be sold… this request was reviewed at the highest level,” he said.
Mr Cash said Housing wrote to residents on December 2 to advise the property would be reallocated to a new tenant.
“While the Housing Authority generally houses applicants in the order in which they apply, discretion is exercised when allocating properties that have a history of disruptive tenants to ensure that future allocations are appropriate and sensitive,” he said.
“The Housing Authority will also ensure that future tenants are aware of their responsibilities to neighbouring residents and take action where those obligations are not met.
“Housing expects that its tenants operate within community standards and while individual tenancies may face difficulties, the vast majority of public housing tenants actively participate in their communities and contribute positively to their neighbourhoods.”
Bassendean MLA Dave Kelly said residents deserved to get their street back to being a family friendly place.
“The residents had a fairly unpleasant time over the last couple of years because of the tenants of that house,” he said.
“The Department of Housing should do a good meeting process for the next round of tenants because it would be completely unacceptable if there was a repeat of what happened with the last tenant.
“95 per cent of Department of Housing tenants are completely fine local residents, it is only a small group of people who cause trouble.”