Cottage tenants turfed out

Long-term tenants of heritage-listed homes in Ludlow are being forced from their properties, with no plans confirmed as to what will happen to the settlement houses.

Located just outside Busselton, the Ludlow Forestry Mill and Settlement contains 11 forestry cottages built between 1908 and the 1960s.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife owns the homes and has been renting them out on short-term leases since 1998. Six properties are currently occupied.

In 2006 the cottages were all heritage-listed, however some have been left unoccupied and are now boarded up.

Resident Shane Irwin has been living in one of the cottages since 2002.

He said he received two months notice to vacate.

Mr Irwin said the department had informed residents the houses were going to be transported and sold off-site.

After speaking to a DPaW worker, Mr Irwin said he was told the leases were not being renewed because of the town’s water and electricity costs.

Mr Irwin said it would cost more than $5000 to put his belongings in storage.

“That’s the killer,” Mr Irwin said.

“All I would like to have is some extra time.”

Mr Irwin said he had asked DPaW for more time, but his request was denied.

“I asked, but they said there would be no extensions,” he said.

Residents of the town said the department rarely conducted rental inspections and took extensive amounts of time to fix issues.

Mr Irwin said the last rental inspection he had was in 2008 and when he had maintenance issues with the home, DPaW was slow to address them. “I waited five years to get a stove after mine broke and two months ago they finally gave it to me,” he said.

“Then they evict me.”

Resident Scott Boland has been living in Ludlow for the past 17 years and said although he was building a house in Busselton, he was disappointed the residents were being evicted.

“I understand it must come to an end but it’s a shame to move people,” he said.

A DPaW spokeswoman said the decision to not renew the leases came after a 2014 review of the maintenance issues and age and the condition of the site’s houses, and the essential services connected to the properties.

TheTimes asked DPaW about how it had maintained the homes since renting them out and what its plans for the homes were once the residents vacated.

DPaW had not responded by this newspaper’s deadline.