Adelaide's worst suburb - Davoren Park
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:59 am
Davoren Park's streets of fear and loathing
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.html
MICHAEL MILNES, BEN HYDE
July 31, 2009 11:15pm
DAVOREN Park residents are arming themselves with knives and not letting their children play in front yards following a series of violent incidents.
Their fears come after an alleged murder and police siege in the embattled northen suburb that has a growing reputation as a no-go zone for all but those who live there.
A mother of four, who has lived there for two years, told The Advertiser she will not let her children play in her front yard and drives them to school most days even though the school is less than 100m away.
Most residents interviewed by The Advertiser spoke only on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
"I have too many kids," she said. "I can't live with other people. This was the only place I could get a house without sharing.
"I've lived in Salisbury and Smithfield, and this is the worst. It's s***. It's Davoren Park.
"Given half a chance, I would move from here. I would not have my kids here.
"My kids aren't allowed to play outside. They're not even allowed to come out the front until it's time for school."
Another resident, who has lived in the suburb for six years and also did not want to be identified, said he carried a knife when he walked the streets.
He said gangs of 10 to 15 people, some of whom carried weapons, were common in the area.
"I do not walk the streets at night unless I've got a blade on me," he said.
"If you stay out of other people's business you've got nothing to worry about in this area.
"That's the only way you can survive this suburb."
The man's partner said a combination of drugs, alcohol, unemployment and boredom made Davoren Park a crime hot spot.
"Most people are on drugs around here because they are bored," she said.
Not just residents are scared for their welfare in the suburb.
Multiple Davoren Park addresses last December featured on a list of no-go zones for emergency services – addresses the staff will not attend unless they have a police escort.
The suburb was in the headlines again this week after a man was stabbed to death in an alleged drug-related murder.
Locals gathered near the cordon set up by police as STAR Group officers, armed with machineguns, laid siege to a house where the suspected murderer was thought to be inside.
School-age children and their parents lined the street littered with graffiti and car-tyre burnout marks, chatting with the media about the latest incident befalling their suburb.
Despite crimes over the past year, including murders, bashings and thefts, some residents believe some sections of the suburb have been quieter.
One resident, who only would be identified as Raymond, said: "It hasn't been a bad street for over six months. I have lived here for eight years. I like it but my brother, who lives in the next street, hates it. A lot of the troublemakers have moved on but one bloke was stabbed in the neck this year."
Raymond said the suburb's main problem was drugs. "You go anywhere and you can get drugs here," he said.
A couple who have lived in the suburb for almost 13 years said they had experienced "no trouble whatsoever". They said their western side was "great". "I wouldn't like to live over there (the eastern side), it's a bit rough," the woman said.
Mitchell Park, a southern suburb with similar demographics has undergone renewal in the past 20 years.
Member for Mitchell Kris Hanna said new housing in the 1990s had attracted a new type of resident. That had helped rejuvenated the suburb.
"It had a very bad reputation and, through the 1970s, there was an extremely high proportion of teenagers," he said.
"You had young blokes tearing about in cars, hooning around, clowning around, rumours of drug dealing and violence and all sorts of problems. Then more than half was knocked down and, with the different population and people moving in, the element of marketing as well as real estate agents wanting to sell it as an area for young professionals . . . it's actually become a brilliant place to live and it's a great example of how the environment has changed the culture."
Davoren Park has become an area emergency crews fear to go.
Incidents include:
September 19, 2008: Man, 81, bashed and robbed by two men looking for drugs.
November 7, 2008: Homeless man Shane Gohl, 41, bashed and set on fire as he slept in a car. Nobody yet charged.
December 29, 2008: Police charge man, 21, who allegedly stabbed another man.
December 2008: Multiple addresses feature on a list of 104 houses identified as potentially dangerous by ambulance crew, leading them to request police escorts if called there.
January 1, 2009: Brett Wade Bamford shot dead in driveway.
January 27, 2009: Man dies after falling from a car.
March 16, 2009: Man, 24, and his son, 2, found dead from stab wounds inside a Charlson St home while his partner, 21, and baby daughter, 15 days, sustain serious injuries.
May 2, 2009: Police officer allegedly assaulted and eight people arrested after partygoers became aggressive.
July 27, 2009: Woman, 40, charged with murdering a man at her Kilmington Rd home.
HAVE YOUR SAY: What can authorities do to fix Davoren Park?
Member for Light Tony Piccolo's solutions
-$1 billion over 10 years for a range of infrastructure projects in the area including two new schools and rebuilding of houses.
- Increasing the ratio of private housing in the suburb to bring in a more diverse community and regenerate the area.
- Programs in place to encourage teenage mothers to get an education.
- Defence and horticultural programs in schools to make teenagers ``job ready'' when they leave school.
- Improving parks and reserves to get people using them.
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