Burnett Heads’ neighbours sick of living beside the house from hell

Neighbours in a beachside suburb in Queensland say they’re living beside the house from hell and fear nobody and nothing will help them.

Residents of a quiet suburban street in the beachside community of Burnett Heads say a derelict home abandoned for the past nine years is making their life hell and their neighbourhood unsafe.

They fear that mice, rats and snakes are attracted to it, and overgrown trees and bamboo surrounding the home are increasingly encroaching on neighbouring properties and destroying their fences under the weight.

Residents of Burnett Heads street say they fear that mice, rats and snakes are attracted to an abandoned house, and overgrown trees and bamboo surrounding it are increasingly encroaching on neighbouring properties and destroying their fences under the weight.

Embattled neighbours say things have gradually gotten worse since the owner of the home died.

Daniel Dennis said some of the neighbours had “given up on trying to get it fixed”.

Neighbours have given up on repairing fences damaged by overgrown trees and bushes from the house from hell.

The abandoned property has a sizable backyard that borders two other homes on the adjacent McKenzie Street.

One of those neighbours, Donna, who preferred to keep her last name private, said she went to the costly effort of cutting back the overgrown trees invading her garden when she first moved in.

Three years on, the trees swamp her backyard again, bringing with it a fear that it will encourage mice and snakes to take up residence in her garden.

Trees overgrown from the abandoned property spill over into neighbouring backyards.

Mr Dennis, who lives next door to the property on Burnett Heads Road, said he had not had any issues with rats or snakes in the 40 years he had lived there, although he said that was probably due to the shed structure on the abandoned property’s grounds that ran the length of his yard.

Neighbours allege that family members of the family have visited the property, but not much has been done to clear the overgrown yard.

Despite being largely unaffected by the unsightly house next door, Mr Dennis said “the bamboo is getting out of control” and the council had done nothing to address the overgrown eye-sore, despite significant structural damage to other neighbouring properties.

Andrew Dowrick lives with his family in the house next door to the abandoned house.

Bamboo grows metres into the sky, causing structural damage to surrounding houses.

He said he had tried writing to the owner’s successor, to no avail.

After repeated calls and a visit from the Bundaberg Regional Council, Mr Dowrick said (because) it was “overgrown trees and cars and rubbish, they will not help”.

Mr Dowrick’s partner, Kylie James, said the last time she spoke to a person who knew the owner, she asked when they would clear the overgrown trees at the back of the property.

She claims they said “it’s not a priority”.

Furniture and equipment lay abandoned around the Burnett Heads property.

“Nothing has been done for 10 months,” she said.

A recent visit from the council left the family feeling alone and unheard.

They were told the owners would be required to put out bait for mice and rats, but beyond that not much more could be done.

Mattresses and furniture remain scattered around the Burnett Heads property.

Beyond frustrated, the father of two, took to social media.

“This is a serious health issue and fire hazard,” he said

The council had not responded to inquiries about the property at the time of publication.