While no decision has yet been made, council is acting on a letter it received from a distressed resident, who raised safety concerns about the thoroughfare.

General manager David Sherley said council would soon decide what action to take.

“This is a laneway that is under council’s responsibility to manage,” Mr Sherley said. 

“In 2005, council considered a report to close the laneway, but at that time resolved to keep the laneway open on the basis that it was a popular thoroughfare for residents and contained access to essential services.”

Mr Sherley outlined that, since then, the previous Crime Prevention Committee had been reformed into the Bathurst Community Safety Committee.

“[The committee] has identified a number of priorities to improve community safety around the city and surrounding areas, as outlined in the Bathurst Community Safety Plan (2011-2014),” Mr Sherley said. 

“Given this recent letter and in acknowledging resident concern, council will review the issue and conduct further investigations about the particular laneway before making any recommendations with particular regard to the works being completed in Kelso under the NSW Government’s Orange/Bathurst Regeneration Plan.”

The Western Advocate was contacted by Kelso residents last month, after NSW Family and Community Services minister Pru Goward visited Bathurst to inspect the final stages of an $8 million rejuvenation project in Kelso’s troubled areas.

The project aims to improve amenities and increase community safety. Dead-end roadways have been opened up, homes demolished, landscaping completed, and properties reorientated.

However, Rhonda Pearse, who has lived in Kelso for more than 23 years, said one of the biggest problems in Kelso remained unsolved.

Ms Pearse said the laneway gave criminals an easy escape route from Bannerman Crescent into Schofield Way then through to View Street. She said people had been attacked and bashed in the laneway, adding criminals also jumped the fences into backyards to break in and steal from residents.

Neighbour Susan Francis said the laneway was a frustration for everyone in the street.

“There is always break-ins, people jumping over our back fences, and they’re always there fighting or arguing in the laneway,” Ms Francis said.

Residents said arsonists who set fire to a home in Schofield Way in December had most likely escaped the scene via the laneway.