GLEN Anil has become overrun with abandoned and overgrown municipal properties. This is according to the DA candidate councillor for Ward 110 (which covers Glen Anil, Glenhills, Redhill, Avoca Hills and Sunningdale, among others), Pete Graham, who called it the ‘lost and forgotten suburb’.

He said the roads and parks department have failed to respond to complaints from both residents and councillors.

“Many of the properties haven’t been maintained since last year. They have become overgrown with illegal alien plants and become common dumping grounds,” he said.

It has escalated past an aesthetic issue and has now also become a safety concern, he said. One of these problem areas is located behind several properties on Wisteria Grove, where the overgrown vegetation has begun to extend over property lines.

One of the home owners, Carol McEwan, said she feared the vegetation could be used as a hideaway by would-be-criminals as well as a stash point for stolen goods.

“It has left us feeling vulnerable as it limits our vision beyond our properties. We don’t know who could be lurking in the bush,” she said. All they could do up to this point, she said, was trim the vegetation as it grew into their properties.

What’s more, she said the bush was attracting all manner of vermin, particularly snakes. Recently they found a two-and-a-half-metre black mamba in their yard.

“Now we have to worry about our dogs and other pets as well. It is just not on,” she said.