Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jan 2001
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Copyright: 2001 News Limited
Contact:  2 Holt Street, Surry Hills, NSW, 2010
Fax: (02) 9288-2300
Website: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/
Author: Rachel Morris

JUNKIES DESECRATE PARKES HOME

JUNKIES have turned the site of the historic home of the father of 
Australian Federation into a shooting gallery littered with rubbish and 
syringes.Once part of the home of Sir Henry Parkes, heroin addicts are 
using the underpass and creek at Canley Vale to shoot up, sleep and 
sometimes wash in the filthy water.

Sir Henry's portrait features on the new $5 note in recognition of his 
contribution to Federation.

But at his former residence yesterday the only acknowledgement of Sir Henry 
was a battered and worn plaque attached to a tree trunk.

The area under the tracks at Orphan School Creek in Sydney's south-west was 
also an environmental disaster with black, polluted water, household waste 
and other debris and the smell of human excrement.

Plastic bags, clothing, furniture as well as drug paraphernalia lined the 
creek bed and surrounding area.

Addicts arrive by train at nearby Canley Vale station, score their heroin 
from dealers waiting on the main street of the quiet suburb then move to 
the area to have their hit.

The Daily Telegraph saw two addicts shooting up just metres from the 
historic railway bridge amid polluted creek water and other debris.

Just 200m away is a 1996 plaque commemorating Sir Henry Parkes's residence 
in the area and his place in Australian history.

Nearby, locals have used the park to dump lounges and unwanted furniture 
and rubbish bags.

Sir Henry Parkes built a house, Canley Grange, on the site in the late 
1880s and had the train line built as a siding to transport him to and from 
the centre of Sydney.

The house burnt down in the early 1900s but Canley Vale remains one of only 
two places named by the "Founding Father", the other being Faulconbridge in 
the Blue Mountains.

One resident ­ who did not want to be named ­ said she recently collected 
32 needles in one day.

Yesterday on the orders of Fairfield City Council workers cleaned up the area.

She said up to two addicts would use the area as an open-air shooting 
gallery at any time and local dealers had started patrolling the area to 
drum up business with Sunday being the "busiest" day.

The resident, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, said it was 
a "sad memorial" to Sir Henry Parkes, particularly in the year of the 
Centenary of Federation.

"It's very sad . . . it used to be a very nice area," she said.

Fairfield Mayor Bob Grahame admitted the creek and surrounding area was in 
a "bad state" and said council and police made regular patrols of the area.

Mr Grahame also admitted addicts sometimes slept in the area and had 
commissioned a study to determine how best to clean-up the site.

The mayor also said he was "trying to find the money" to fix the 
environmental problems plaguing the creek.

"Most of the waste is household waste," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens