Cleveland Street correctional facility angers locals

Darlington residents are outraged by a proposal to create a corrective services facility at 145 Cleveland Street.

At a community meeting last Wednesday residents slammed the proposed Probation and Parole Office for a lack of infrastructure lack of community consultation and unsuitability to the area.

Around 20 locals gathered to voice their concerns to Department of Community Services representatives John Crawford and Sarah Brennan.

Residents claim they were not informed of the development application by Corrective Services and were unable to access information about the proposal.

“I live in the house closest to the development and we weren’t notified,” one resident said.

“I had to ask the workers who are modifying the site what was going on.”

Residents also pointed out the meeting had not been widely publicised and did not represent enough of the community.

“This [meeting] is a really good start but I only heard about it yesterday,” another resident said.

“That wasn’t enough time to get anyone else to come.  If you really want to do things properly you would reschedule the meeting for a week or two from now and that way you could hear the real concerns of the community.”

Spokesman for REDWatch Geoff Turnbull said the site did not have sufficient infrastructure to house a busy facility.

“There is one bus stop servicing this area and the nearest train station is one point two kilometres away,” he said.

“The bus comes along every half-hour which means people are going to be hanging around the area or walking through residential areas.

“A development of this type should not be in a residential area, most facilities like this are in commercial areas.”

Community Services spokesperson Sarah Brennan told residents their concerns were normal but there was no evidence to suggest the facility would increase crime in the area.

“We recognise these are legitimate concerns,” she said.

“But the fact is those parolees who are going to re-offend aren’t going to do it around the corner from their parole office. Police have told us sites such as these do not increase crime in the area in any way.”

By Simon Black