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.