Residents angry at Nick Andrianakos over derelict Giant Worm
Bass Coast residents are frustrated with the state of a once thriving tourist attraction near Phillip Island. The council says it’s on the owner to clean up but the businessman has other plans.
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The owner of a huge eyesore in Gippsland has no plans to clean up the site, despite pressure from the Bass Coast Council Shire.
Gippsland’s quirkiest former tourist attraction, Wildlife Wonderland Giant Earthworm Museum on the Bass Highway, closed in 2012 and has since fallen into ruin.
Also known as the Giant Worm, the former museum owned by property investor and service station owner Nick Andrianakos is covered in graffiti, surrounded by uncut grass and rubbish and has become a hotspot for squatters, drug users and feral animals, neighbours say.
Mr Andrianakos told The Bass Coast News he “isn’t quite sure” what is happening with the land.
“I think some people want to put display homes and I think the council are looking to do something,” he said.
“The other people want to lease the land … look I don't know … I can’t give you much more information”.
A Bass Coast Shire Council spokesman said council officers sent a letter to the owners of the property at the end of July 2020, requesting he tidy up the “unsightly” property.
“When we have a better understanding of COVID-19 restrictions, council officers will look at issuing a formal notice to the property owner that will require them to cut the grass on site and remove some of the rubbish located at the property”.
Bass resident Carola Adolf, who has lived in the area for 27 years, said it was frustrating to see “a once thriving tourist destination” turn into a “magnet for trespassers, vandals and unknown individuals”.
“The building has been used by squatters, drug users and rough sleepers in the past, now the external surfaces are being used by graffiti vandals,” Ms Adolf said.
“There is not one glass window left intact and some facades are covered with plywood which was partly destroyed by the force of someone’s’ efforts to enter the buildings with a sledgehammer”.
Ms Adolf said the property is covered in weeds and rubbish, making it “unsafe” and “dirty”.
Bass Coast Shire Council said they are “not aware” of any health risks that the Giant Worm poses to the community despite Ms Adolf saying the overgrown vegetation is a fire hazard.
Ms Adolf is also concerned about the increase of crime in the area and she fears for the safety of herself and the greater community.
“Neighbours were confronted by thugs a year ago when countless non locals ventured [to the Giant Worm] and blocked the small road, did burnouts at night, parked on nature strips, sat on fences and left rubbish everywhere,” she said.
Ms Adolf also said the property is a breeding ground for vermin and ferals.
San Remo resident Rochelle Halstead said it was “disappointing” to see the land turn to “wrack and ruin”.
“The site needs to be cleaned up, repurposed, or completely cleared,” she said.
Mrs Halstead believes the Bass Coast Shire Council must enforce their powers and compel the owner of the land to clean it up.
“In 2017 residents wrote to the council requesting a clean up of the site and the removal of the sharkpreserved in a tank full of formaldehyde, which was considered a serious risk to health and safety,” Mrs Halstead said.
“The shark was removed in 2019, but three years later the community is still waiting for the clean up [of the Giant Worm].”
Ms Adolf said the “former beautiful area is now bringing the entire Shire in disrepute”.
She said there is “anger” towards the “irresponsible owner” who has “no interest in his property or the people of this Shire”.
She hopes someone will invest in the land as it requires more than “just a quick fix”.
“I would love to see a developer build an age-care facility or anything else that requires a ‘new start’ as the existing buildings are beyond repair”.
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Contact Brooke at brooke.grebert-craig@news.com.au
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