The violence and vandalism carried out by a group of young people in Tarneit is worsening and police are not doing enough to control the lawlessness, residents say.
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Police have vowed to crack down on a group of youths who are regularly drinking and fighting in the area.
The group gathers at a local park and the Tarneit McDonald's, where a fight involving between 100 and 150 youths erupted on Sunday night.
Homeowners' windows have been smashed, and the park has been trashed.
"We keep to ourselves, close the shutters, turn the lights off," said one resident, who did not want to be named.
Another woman said her front window had been smashed when a youth threw a rock through it.
"Life is disturbed; we cannot sleep all night. It's getting worse day by day," said the woman, who also declined to give her name.
The group have been meeting in the park for the past month, with residents calling police several times, but the issue came to a head on Sunday night.
More than 100 youths congregated in Pistachia Drive and Woolybush Drive on Sunday night, drinking and fighting. The streets and nearby park remain littered with McDonald's wrappers, Jim Beam bottles, smashed glass and home-made bongs.
The group were there all night, yelling and intimidating people, residents said. At one point they surrounded a car trying to drive along the street, preventing the driver from leaving.
Many homeowners hunkered down inside their solid-brick homes, afraid.
Pistachia and Woolybush run alongside a large park built and operated by a local property developer. The park is attractive and modern, and includes a skate park, community centre and a large concrete amphitheatre, which has been heavily vandalised.
At the centre of the amphitheatre sits an overturned wheel bin and a small pile of ash; it looks like someone has tried to start a fire. Residents believe many of the young people have been sleeping here.
There are two doors on the walls of the amphitheatre, and both have been smashed.
One door has had its handle blasted off; the other has been smashed open, or possibly levered with a crowbar, and is hanging off its hinges.
Inside an expensive looking airconditioning plant has had its grey metal tube severed.
