THE next few years are going to be a living hell for at least one family living in Glenroi’s South Terrace unless authorities can find a way to clean out trouble makers.
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The family, from Mount Druitt in Sydney, is not the first to grab a chance to buy a public housing dwelling in Orange without doing their homework.
Too late, the couple featured in our page one story on Tuesday, discovered they had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
Their fresh start in Glenroi has turned into the almost daily ordeal of watching adults and children brawling in the streets.
Vandalism, foul language and alcohol-fuelled violence, which they say would put Mount Druitt to shame, is just part of life in the area around South Terrace.
Long-term residents of Orange and those involved in welfare know this is not a new problem and nor is it overstated.
What is different is that this family expects the police and Housing NSW to do something about it.
There is no quick fix and attempts in the past to improve the area have had some success.
Building the Cootes Access Centre is an example of a concerted effort to improve facilities in this part of Glenroi in the hope a stronger sense of community and personal responsibility would follow.
Sadly however there remains a significant anti-social element in South Terrace who have scant regard for the law and the rights of others.
The police know this, Housing NSW knows this and the state government through Orange MP Andrew Gee’s office, should know this.
There have been real efforts made to reduce vandalism and other antisocial behaviour across the highway in Bowen, the question now is what can be done in South Terrace?
An increased police presence would help but would pull resources away from other police duties.
One thing is certain, if the status quo continues and the response is limited to police scrambling every time there is an incident reported, nothing is going to change.
