Vacant land now vagrant’s land

Ihsaan Haffejee

Laissez-faire: A man walks in the ruins of house on Atholl-Oaklands Road in Melrose. Neighbours efforts to get the owner of the property to clean it up and secure it have been in vain. Picture: Ihsaan Haffejee

ABANDONED houses on suburban properties are starting to become a problem to neighbours.

It appears that the people who abandon them hope to develop the land in the future, but in the meantime, allow them to go to rack and ruin if they don’t have the money to go ahead.

Metrowatch receives complaints about this regularly.

Residents in the upmarket area of Melrose are now complaining of a once-beautiful double-storey mansion in Atholl-Oaklands Road being invaded by vagrants.

The owner, Diana Rosslee, said her neighbours’ security was not her problem, and that she would not be developing the land “for a long time”.

“What can I do? The place has been completely wrecked. I asked the police to get the vagrants out, but they will not assist. I am a woman alone.

“The neighbours must take care of their own security, it is not my responsibility.

“I am having problems with other properties I own and I certainly will not be doing anything with the land in the near future,” she said.

Neighbour Derek Halstead-Cleak said the property was creating major security problems in the area.

He has been forced to put up a 16-strand electric fence around his property after a few crime incidents relating to the abandoned property.

“Despite legal letters sent to her, Mrs Rosslee refuses to do anything about the property, which is now ransacked and occupied by vagrants.

“The house has all but been dismantled and there is, according to her, nothing left worth doing anything about.

“The vagrants light fires on the property. Neighbouring properties, including mine, have been invaded and we have been robbed by invaders coming directly from this property.

“The vagrants use the garden for ablutions and the land is rodent-infested and full of rubble and dumped rubbish.

“The house is without doubt not safe from an electrical perspective and the water run-off system is blocked, no longer operating and mosquito infested,” he said.

Halstead-Cleak says Rosslee refuses to secure the entrances, which are on Atholl-Oaklands Road, opposite Melrose Arch, which effectively opens all the neighbours to the risk of crime.

“She refutes being responsible for doing anything – whether it be to secure the property, clean it up, remove the vagrants or adhere to the municipal by-laws,” he said.

Metrowatch recently reported on a similar problem in Fairwood where a property has been invaded by squatters, causing untold problems for neighbours.

According to city by-laws, owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties, failing which the council will clear the land and then bill the owners.