Anti-social groups meeting at night have been dumping rubbish and drug paraphernalia behind a childcare centre, the opposition says, while arguing the behaviour showed the need for tougher laws to ensure public order.
Peter Cain, the opposition city and government services spokesman and a local member for Ginninderra, said the government had failed to act on repeated reports from members of the community until he had raised the issues with ministers.
Photographs show drug paraphernalia, milk crates, shopping trolleys and other rubbish dumped in the area behind the childcare centre at the Charnwood shops.
"Groups have been gathering late at night, lighting fires, throwing rocks at pedestrians, and intimidating the public, while illegal dumping of mattresses, washing machines and other large items continues at nearby Scullin Oval," the opposition said.
The opposition said members of the public had raised concerns about the behaviour and state of the shops but the government had only sent clean-up crews after they had raised the issue with ministers.
"People have done exactly what the government asks by reporting the problems, yet the situation has continued to deteriorate," Mr Cain said.
"It shouldn't take an MLA stepping in, or syringes being found metres from a childcare centre, for the government to act. The safety of our families and children must come first."
Clean-up crews eventually sent to address the mess were forced to stop work after finding discarded syringes in an area close to the childcare centre, the opposition said.
But a government spokesman said crews found no sharps or needles near the Charnwood childcare centre on July 2 when the team removed illegally dumped milk crates and general rubbish.
The crews' response "was actioned following a request from Minister Cheyne's office".
"When sharps and needles are identified in illegal dumping, crews are equipped and trained to remove immediately. Crews do not stop work when needles are found - they are removed to help ensure safety remains in the community," the spokesman said in a statement.
"The community is encouraged to report any illegal dumping through Fix My Street so cases can be investigated and prioritised as required.
"Sharps and needles are typically removed on the day the on-field officer receives the report (including weekends)."
An ACT Policing spokesperson said two matters had been reported since the beginning of June involving rock throwing, but neither were reported at Charnwood.
"In one incident in Spence a young person was reported to be engaging with parked cars. He was collected by his carer shortly after police received the report," the spokesperson said.
"The second incident reported to police involved a small group of teenagers at the Melba shops throwing items at cars late at night. Police attended and spoke with the youths."
Mr Cain also wrote to City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne last month about illegal dumping in the car park at the Scullin oval.
"Items such as mattresses and washing machines are frequently being left in the area. This is very concerning, as the oval and surrounding park were once well-used by the community, but the current state is discouraging people from visiting," he wrote.
A clean-up crew removed illegally dumped bags of general waste from the Scullin oval car park on June 2 after being alerted to the mess through a request on Fix My Street, the ACT government's online portal for reporting public maintenance issues.
The opposition has committed to reversing the ACT's drug decriminalisation laws, promising a "tougher approach to organised crime and illicit drugs".
"We will recriminalise meth because we refuse to pretend that a drug causing such serious harm in our community should be treated as just another minor infringement," Opposition Leader Mark Parton said in his budget reply speech last month.
Mr Parton also told the Assembly if the Youth Minister genuinely believed raising the age of criminal responsibility was working, he needed to get out more.
Children aged up to 14 cannot generally be charged with crimes in the ACT. Twelve- and 13-year-olds can be charged with some serious offences, including murder.
"Nobody could argue with a push to get children out of the criminal justice system. It should be the aim of all parties and all players in this space. But it seems clear that the diversionary pathways that are in place are not fulfilling the promises that the government laid out at the start of this process, and that the unintended consequences of this change are there for everybody to see - except the minister," he said on June 10.
