Messy neighbour asked to clean up
FOR four years Beck and James Parry have watched as the properties next door to their Morayfield home have become a jumbled mess.
Lived-in homes have turned into overgrown properties with broken windows, graffiti and mess.
When the Parrys first moved into their home on Caboolture River Rd, as far as they were aware nothing was happening to the properties until one day they were informed by an owner they were looking at utilising them.
"The houses were cleaned up and the yards done and they had people move in," James said. "They were lived in for some time but eventually the houses became abandoned.
"One of the houses was burnt down and another house has a huge hole in it.
"There are kids in and out all the time and climbing on the shipping containers in the yard and there's also a swimming pool full of water that has gone green."
What frustrates the Parrys even more is at one point their home was broken into and items were found stored in the rundown properties next door.
"We had a break-in and we believe they may have been watching us," Beck said. "They used the properties to house our stuff which was found by police."
James said they spoke to owner Eric Whitehouse and were informed that things would be getting done soon.
"We've spoken to council and asked for it to be tidied up - it's dangerous and someone needs to take accountability," he said.
"It's not safe," Beck said. "We don't want to move, we live in a community we want to be in."
Mr Whitehouse is one of the owners and he said the small development company he was a part of had ended up owning a development beyond their capacity simply by circumstance.
"We have approval to build a resort-style unit development but we're still chasing the money to do so," Mr Whitehouse said.
"We've experienced a number of problems including the GFC and it's been very hard in the current climate to get things off the ground."
Mr Whitehouse said clean-up works on the property would start in coming days and there were plans to work on the remaining house to establish it as a site sales office.
"They will be progressively cleared and cleaned up as the main building part starts," he said. "The final building finance hasn't been fully approved yet, but I am battling on and believe it will finally happen."
A Moreton Bay Regional Council spokesman said there had been no complaints received about 94-96 Caboolture River Rd since November 2011.
"It's understood the owner plans to demolish the structures in question," the spokesman said.
