Inside the horror housing commission block in Melbourne

Residents of a horror housing commission block say they are living in fear, terrorised daily by violent neighbours and visitors.

Eddy and Dave, who have lived at Park Towers in South Melbourne for two years, describe their time in the building as a ‘living nightmare’.

Constant crime has left them feeling like prisoners in their unit, and police can take hours to arrive despite being called to the building almost every day.

Images from inside the aging 31-storey tower block show blood splattered on lifts and along corridors, broken windows and shards of glass on the floors.

Criminals deal drugs in the building’s units and stairwells, domestic violence is rampant and ice-addicted residents stalk the hallways screaming and lashing out.

 

Residents of a horror housing commission block say they are living in fear, terrorised daily by violent neighbours and visitors (pictured is blood in one of the lifts)

Eddy and Dave, who have lived at Park Towers in South Melbourne for two years, describe their time in the building as a 'living nightmare' (pictured are syringes in a stairwell)

Eddy and Dave, who have lived at Park Towers in South Melbourne for two years, describe their time in the building as a ‘living nightmare’ (pictured are syringes in a stairwell)

Constant crime has left them feeling like prisoners in their unit, and police can take hours to arrive despite being called to the building almost every day (pictured are broken windows in the hallways)

Constant crime has left them feeling like prisoners in their unit, and police can take hours to arrive despite being called to the building almost every day (pictured are broken windows in the hallways)

Park Towers (pictured), located on Park Street in South Melbourne, was built for the Housing Commission of Victoria in 1968

Park Towers (pictured), located on Park Street in South Melbourne, was built for the Housing Commission of Victoria in 1968

Blood-filled syringes litter stairwells and common areas, people urinate in the lifts and photos even show faeces sprayed and smeared on hallway walls.

‘You can walk up to almost any resident at any time and they can tell you who can get you any drug under the sun,’ said Dave.

‘I’d say 70 per cent of the residents are either drug users or dealers, but the rest of us are good people.’

‘There are decent people here, we’re not all junkies, and the rest of us can’t live like this.

‘There are lots of elderly Russians in the building and they just keep to themselves, they don’t use the common areas, they are probably too scared.’

Letters and calls to the housing commission have gone unanswered, and when they wrote to Housing Minister Martin Foley they got a generic reply from an assistant.

Images from inside the aging 31-storey tower block show blood splattered on lifts and through corridors, broken windows (pictured) and shards of glass on the floors

Images from inside the aging 31-storey tower block show blood splattered on lifts and through corridors, broken windows (pictured) and shards of glass on the floors

Criminals deal drugs in the building's units and stairwells, domestic violence is rampant and ice-addicted residents stalk the hallways screaming and lashing out (pictured is blood in a stairwell)

Criminals deal drugs in the building’s units and stairwells, domestic violence is rampant and ice-addicted residents stalk the hallways screaming and lashing out (pictured is blood in a stairwell)

Eddy said he has repeatedly tried to call attention to the high levels of anti-social behaviour they have witnessed, but no action has been taken.

‘The housing association just makes you jump through hoops,’ said Eddy.

‘I asked a lady at the office if her son would like to stay at my house and she said “No, it’s not a good environment”. Why should we have to put up with it then?’  

Police and emergency services were called to the complex on Monday after multiple people were stabbed with broken bottles, Dave said.

‘Today was right up there, it was an extremely horrible scary experience – there was loads of police, ambulances, detectives, the whole works,’ he said.

Blood-filled syringes litter stairwells and common areas, people urinate in the lifts and photos even show faeces sprayed and smeared on hallway walls (pictured is blood in a lift)

Blood-filled syringes litter stairwells and common areas, people urinate in the lifts and photos even show faeces sprayed and smeared on hallway walls (pictured is blood in a lift)

'You can walk up to almost any resident at any time and they can tell you who can get you any drug under the sun,' said Dave (pictured is the outside of the building)

‘You can walk up to almost any resident at any time and they can tell you who can get you any drug under the sun,’ said Dave (pictured is the outside of the building)

‘The whole building was taped up with police tape and no lift, in all three lifts no access due to the lifts being covered with blood, blood everywhere.

’15 of the levels were covered in blood, broken windows, bottles smashed, multiple victims from the looks of it.  

‘It’s just a plain straight horrible living nightmare – we are in fear every day.’

Screaming and yelling echoes through the building at night, and Eddy and Dave say the prefab walls and concrete floors mean residents hear everything.

‘The lady next door is a heroin user, she deals out of her unit and nobody does anything about it, we have people screaming in the halls day and night,’ Dave said.

'I'd say 70 per cent of the residents are either drug users or dealers, but the rest of us are good people (pictured are syringes in a stairwell)

‘I’d say 70 per cent of the residents are either drug users or dealers, but the rest of us are good people (pictured are syringes in a stairwell)

'There are decent people here, we're not all junkies, and the rest of us can't live like this,' said a resident (pictured is a blood-filled syringe found outside a unit)

‘There are decent people here, we’re not all junkies, and the rest of us can’t live like this,’ said a resident (pictured is a blood-filled syringe found outside a unit)

‘People come and go at all hours, crazy people bang on our door, spit at us, fight and shout, and destroy everything they can.’ 

‘We took her to court and they gave us a five-year intervention order, but the commission won’t do a thing about her,’ said Eddy.

‘My eight-year-old son can’t stay with me anymore, because the last time he was here she abused him and spat at him through the security door.’  

Dave and Eddy said the building itself is fine and their units are nice, but the residents and their visitors ‘make it feel like a free-range prison’.

Police have conducted days-long blitzes in the past, searching residents as they come and go, but when they leave again the drug dealing and violence continues.

'There are lots of elderly Russians in the building and they just keep to themselves, they don't use the common areas, they are probably too scared,' said a resident (pictured is a blood-filled syringe found outside a unit)

‘There are lots of elderly Russians in the building and they just keep to themselves, they don’t use the common areas, they are probably too scared,’ said a resident (pictured is a blood-filled syringe found outside a unit)

' Letters and calls to the housing commission have gone unanswered, and when they wrote to Housing Minister Martin Foley they got a generic reply from an assistant (pictured is blood in a lift)

‘ Letters and calls to the housing commission have gone unanswered, and when they wrote to Housing Minister Martin Foley they got a generic reply from an assistant (pictured is blood in a lift)

‘We can see the police station from here, it’s half a block away but sometimes they take three hours to come,’ said Dave.

By that time it is often too late, with bashings and assaults happening ‘all the time’.

‘We feel jailed in our own homes, we’re scared for our lives,’ said Dave.

‘The violence is out-of-control, one woman bashed an old lady with a walker, all over a cigarette, and she ended up dying.

‘Another time a guy off his face on ice and synthetic marijuana, a schizophrenic, he barged through six cops and chased after us, bleeding like his leg had been cut off, the whole floor was covered in blood and capsicum spray.

‘We see blood on the floor at least once a week.’ 

Eddy said he has repeatedly tried to call attention to the high levels of anti-social behaviour they have witnessed, but no action has been taken (pictured is rubbish and human faeces in a hallway)

Eddy said he has repeatedly tried to call attention to the high levels of anti-social behaviour they have witnessed, but no action has been taken (pictured is rubbish and human faeces in a hallway)

'The housing association just makes you jump through hoops,' said Eddy (pictured is faeces smeared on a wall)

‘The housing association just makes you jump through hoops,’ said Eddy (pictured is faeces smeared on a wall)

Dave and Eddy have installed cameras inside their unit, as many of the residents can get past the building’s security with ease.

‘One guy went on holiday and when he came back his unit had been ransacked,’ Eddy said,

‘Someone else broke into a unit and opened it up for a garage sale, sold everything inside, completely stripped it, even sold the light tubes.’ 

The embattled residents say there is enough room in the foyer for a permanent police unit to set up a booth, or for an administration office.

They would like to see a 24-hour security presence and troublesome residents kicked out.

Tenants should also be punished for breaking an agreement they sign when they receive their keys, promising not to engage in anti-social behaviour.

‘Something needs to be done, it’s not right, there are people trying to live their lives here but it’s impossible.’ 

At the time of construction Park Towers (pictured) was the tallest block of prefabricated units ever built in Australia

At the time of construction Park Towers (pictured) was the tallest block of prefabricated units ever built in Australia

Fire is another concern, with rubbish and discarded furniture piling up in the stairwells.

In February 2015 a large blaze broke out on the 29th floor when someone set rubbish left in the hallway alight.

The pair say there have been several fires in the two years they have lived in the tower, which is also plagued by cockroaches, rats and bed bugs.

‘It’s a daily battle for a lot of people here. Some days I don’t want to wake up because I don’t want to deal with life in the building,’ said Eddy.

Park Towers, located on Park Street in South Melbourne, was built for the Housing Commission of Victoria in 1968.

At the time of construction it was the tallest block of prefabricated units ever built in Australia. 

Victoria Police confirmed officers attended a Park Street apartment block on Monday afternoon. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

Police and emergency services were called to the complex on Monday after multiple people were stabbed with broken bottles, Dave said (pictured is vandalised mail)

Police and emergency services were called to the complex on Monday after multiple people were stabbed with broken bottles, Dave said (pictured is vandalised mail)

 



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