Blackburn Station Village: Discarded syringes near South Parade cafes
A father has been left horrified after his toddler almost picked up dirty, bloodied syringes left on the footpath of a shopping strip in Melbourne’s east — but it wasn’t a surprise to those working in the area.
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A man says his young son almost picked up syringes and bloodied tissues lying across a footpath outside a shopping strip in Melbourne’s east.
But the incident hasn’t surprised nearby traders, with one having recently seen a woman suffer a drug overdose during the day behind his Blackburn store.
Tim Weis was heading to buy a coffee on South Parade in Blackburn Station Village in the middle of the day on Tuesday, February 11 when he made the “filthy” find.
Five used syringes and bloodied tissues were strewn across the footpath and gutter, near several cafes’ outdoor seating areas.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“It was pretty foul.”
“My little three-year-old was going to grab them — he didn’t know what they were.”
Mr Weis said he visited Blackburn weekly, and used to live in the area, and had never known drug-related issues to be so bad.
“I’ve seen junkies around Blackburn,” he said.
“But you normally don’t see that.”
The owner of a nearby business, who did not want to be named, said he went around the
back of his store after closing and saw a woman who had overdosed in the carpark on Gardenia St about six months ago.
He said a customer who lived on the street told him that he regularly saw people “doing stuff” in that carpark at night.
The business owner said the carpark probably attracted drug activity because it was quiet at night, being predominantly used by those working in the stores, with most only operating during the day.
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The owner of South Parade cafe Fat Cup, Ricky Leung, said he also wasn’t surprised syringes had been found in the area.
“We do see a lot of suspicious people around that look like they’re on something,” he said.
Whitehorse Council general manager infrastructure Steven White said the council received “very few” reports of drug paraphernalia in Blackburn, with most issues dealt with by the cleaner who went worked at Blackburn Station Village three times a week.
He said the council had received one request to remove syringes from a Blackburn laneway in the past 12 months.
Mr White said the council responded to these requests within two hours during business hours.
There is a syringe bin at the public toilet on South Parade next to Blackburn railway station.