​Greenmount Six Houses

Six houses on Great Eastern Highway in Greenmount were purchased by Main Roads using compulsory acquisition. They wanted to widen the highway.

 

​Perhaps they wanted to demolish the strip of houses all at once, as there were six that had been abandoned quite some time ago, remaining derelict and home to drug-using squatters. A few properties in between the six photographed ones, appeared to refuse to move out. Perhaps the lowly sum offered by the State Government in compensation was not enough.

 

Many property owners in past cases have taken the inadequate compensation issue through the courts and have been awarded a larger settlement, certainly at least closer to the level they deserve.

 

The first afternoon I went to photograph five of the houses (it was getting too dark to visit the sixth one), I lost most of the photos whilst transferring them that night from my iPhone to the computer. It's funny how things happen. I had accidentally pressed Control-Z to go back, which cancelled the transfer of photos and subsequently, made most of the photos disappear.

 

The funny part was, the t-shirt I'd been wearing all day said, 'Control-Z, Back to the Past'.

 

So I returned the next night and went to photograph the last four houses. If I had time, I was going to go back to the first two houses, which were separated from the last four by a number of properties that were still occupied.

 

It turns out I didn't have time and before I knew it, the sun was starting to set. Although I still had all the photos for the first house, I'd lost most of what I had for the second one.

 

​I had no inclination to return for a third night. The houses were all demolished some two months later, although whether the properties in between were still fighting for occupancy, is unknown.