Whose lane is it anyway?

One long-time Darlington resident, Betty Moulds, has been fighting the local council to keep her ‘dunny lane’ safe and clean for the past ten years. Her late husband was a councillor, and swept the lane every Sunday, but keeping it clean is now a more harrowing task.

“It’s pot luck if you ring the needle removal people – maybe they’ll come, maybe they won’t,” Ms Moulds said with frustration. The problem of used needles is amplified in the colder months, when the one-metre wide passage fills up with the fallen leaves of the large trees that surround it. This submerges the sharps, making use of the lane a dangerous venture.

Betty Moulds’ requests for Council to attach a gate at the end of her lane continue to go unanswered. Neighbours have sided with Betty in her fight to secure the lane, but she laments that it still remains her sole battle.

According to City of Sydney Council, a Mr Kirkland owns the back lane behind Ms Mould’s house. The problem is that Mr Kirkland is no longer of this world and hasn’t been for a long time.

Legislation introduced in 2001 has allowed people to claim ownership of the parcels of land behind their residences, if they can prove 12 years exclusive possession of the land. Submissions can be made to council, provided council doesn’t have a claim due to continued maintenance. But laying claim to this dunny lane will produce more problems.

Currently the lane is used by residents to take their rubbish bins down to the corner, because the garbage collectors don’t come down their street. It is also required for access to sewerage pipes, which replaced the lane’s original use.

So Betty is stuck at square one, with no solution in sight.

Photo: Ali Blogg - Bettty Moulds does her clean-up

Source South Sydney Herald September 2007 - www.southsydneyherald.com.au