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2016
Lest we forget PAGE 4
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Redbacks’’ release refused
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A PARADISE
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Connecting people & communities Estate BERWICK
Thursday, 10 November,
after, says dead teen’s aunt...
Grief-stricken members. with 13 for Dru nor family Dru has since been charged The family has denied About 7.30pm, the allegedly offences including theft, burand with six was part of the Apex Gang, stolen silver Kia packed glary and culpable driving. costly mistake conse- teenagers allegedly ran two red Park had made the the car “at the PLEASE think of the A 15-year-old Hampton vehicle, have of getting into the wrong time�. lights, clipped another quences. and girl and a 19-year-old man wrong place, at hit a power pole, flipped the been released pending summons That’s the heart-wrenching down Victoria Police has reportand pas- skidded 100 metres the car’s for motor vehicle theft. advice to young drivers edly stated that some of family road. Dru’s older brother Josiah occupants were known to police sengers from a distraught The car was allegedly stolen PeterDandenong of the gang. member mourning Dru 1 Novem- said his bereaved hurt by and part injured during a burglary on drivfamily had been further son 17 who was fatally Josiah said he knew the th astern suburbs l h
Search for justice PAGE 4
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RESIDENCE
It’s Foy’s castle
By Cam Lucadou-Wells
John Foy at his home's habitat-rich pond. The northern sheep pastures 162598 Picture: would CAM LUCADOU-WELLS be home to up to three soccer pitches, car parking and a pavilion as part of an and extension of next door’s August. Ms Kane believes Narre Warren more ment would help neighbours would have North Recreation Reserve. address a shortfall of objected had at least three Casey moved soccer pitches in Casey’s to publicly acquire Mr Foy’s they had more details about the council’s north. ter lengthy negotiations brokeproperty af- plans. down. Casey statutory planning One of the sticking points She said residents believed for Mr Foy the coun- Duncan Turner said publicly manager was he couldn’t get a guarantee cil had only wanted to build exhibited from a section of information had included Casey to not disturb an reference to embankment a 2.5-kilometre trail link in the site’s far “the future expansion burial site for six family dogs. of district leisure northern corner. and sporting facilities�, as well as the “I was going to put in a covenant The link is between Frog but Hollow Re- shared user path link. I was told I was wasting serve and Lysterfield Park, my The owners of the property, following the council has powers to withdrawtime. The meanderings it.� and occupiers of surrounding owners of Eumemmerring Creek. Four supportive submissions land were notified of the In September, Casey Council and three opposing submissions re- writing, Mr amendment's exhibition in were lodged quested a state planning Turner said. after the council’s advertised panel to conpublic ac- sider Amendment C223 The Planning Panels Victoria quisition overlay was exhibited for the overlay. hearing in July is at Casey Civic Centre on 1 December The council report states the develop- from 10am.
SEE PAGES 10-16, 29
Road. 161624 scene on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Picture: GRANT LYNCH
A Star News Group publication
JOHN Foy isn’t going to stand by and watch Casey Council dispossess and bulldoze his 34-acre patch of paradise in Narre Warren North. The 78-year-old has spent 35 years transforming paddocks and a small billabong into a home with a luscious habitat garden with hundreds of plantings and a nesting pond for varieties of waterbirds. “It feels like 300 kilometres from Melbourne,� he says as he surveys his tranquil plot. On 1 December, Mr Foy and neighbour Marlene Kane will address a Planning Panels Victoria hearing to object to Casey compulsorily acquiring his land at 191-195 Belgrave-Hallam Road. He sees it as a ‘David and battle against the Planning Goliath’ Minister who gave permission for the acquisition overlay’s exhibition - and Casey Council. Mr Foy was disgusted when he saw the council’s illustrated plans for the first time last week. for his land His house would make way for a road leading to sports fields, and fill in most of the duck lake.
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John Foy and his dog Ruby at the duck pond with island nesting boxes 162598
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BERWICK
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2016
Andrew Hartley led a community safety event in reaction to his home being invaded 163252 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS der debate. Mr Hartley said he had signed up to many of the pages but found they fed into his obsession with the issue. “You get to a stage that you’re looking over your shoulder more. You see something and put a post up on it ...
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He said the event itself wasn’t as personally cathartic as he thought it might be. It was heartening to see neighbours install home security as a result, but his family remained traumatised since the burglary after midnight on 13 August.
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“I wasn’t aware how much it affected me. I just used to think that (crime) was happening all the time.� He signed out and regained his sleep, he said. After the community event, Mr Hartley promptly left the limelight.
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IT’S sad to say that Andrew Hartley and his family were far from unique after their home was invaded in 2016. What was unique was how Mr Hartley responded, fronting and organising a community crime prevention event in Sweeney Reserve less than a month later. Mr Hartley, who is Star News’s Person of the Year, became a symbol of residents’ defiance against a steeply rising wave of serious crime. The event, which drew 400 residents as well as MPs, police, Neighbourhood Watch members and experts on alarms, security doors and self-defence, was about informing households how to keep safe. “People aren’t aware of the extent of these crimes. It has become an epidemic and we don’t think it will happen to us,� Mr Hartley said. “Pay attention to what’s happening at your neighbour’s house as well as our own security.� When Mr Hartley launched the event, he wanted to avoid politics. But crime had soared 15 per cent per capita in Casey in 2016, it became the talk of the town and it got decidedly political. At the same time, Casey Council mayor Sam Aziz trumpeted a fivepoint law-and-order advocacy plan declaring his city was in “crisis�. Some of the council’s pleas - including for more police in Casey were heeded by the state government. Meanwhile, crime-reporting Facebook pages ramped up perceived danger levels. Many Casey suburbs had their own page. They became a hub for CCTV footage of strange cars outside homes, photos of stolen cars and law-and-or-
On that night, Mr Hartley was woken by the family dog. He ran out the front and saw a carload of youths drive away. An hour later, police found his wife’s handbag and car keys in the backyard - and only then it dawned that burglars had got inside the house. It was thought the intruders took off their shoes, walked through the rear unlocked door of the home garage, and jemmied an interior door to get inside. Gallingly, they must have walked past the sleeping Hartley children. The family’s innocence hasn’t been repaired, even after a therapeutic threeweek holiday in Bali and installing robust home security. “I’ve got the cameras, the alarms. It’s not only about the deterrence but making sure the family feels more comfortable,� Mr Hartley said. “We still want to move away.� Mr Hartley says there isn’t any one solution for the lawlessness, particularly by a certain cohort of youths. “It’s just a fact of life in the current environment. “All we can do is secure ourselves and look after our loved ones as best we can.� He hopes the event inspired others to look out for each other and “get back a sense of that community�. “Let’s now throw it over to the council and other organisations to run that event on a regular basis. “I showed that one person can run this on their own ... but it’s time for me to go back in my box.�
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