THE Heathdale Neighbourhood Association has launched unprecedented action in a bid to stop another community being lost to alcoholism in Victoria.

They have begun a major campaign to change commercial zoning laws to prohibit the amount of liquor licences granted within disadvantaged areas.

Talks between the association and Wyndham City Council will bring the issue to a head this week.

It follows revelations in last week’s Star that children aged 10 are roaming the streets of Wyndham on alcohol-fuelled binges.

Heathdale Neighbourhood Association’s Janet Murphy said their battle was to ensure this never happened again.

The overhaul would include a by-law granting the council sole authority to restrict commercial properties selling liquor in residential locations.

“The zoning laws were made years ago, I don’t see the need for liquor to be sold on any estate,” Ms Murphy said.

“If you have a few little shops, that cannot be considered a shopping complex.”

There are already 30 liquor licensed premises within a two-kilometre radius of Heathdale.

A VCAT decision to approve a liquor store in Rosella Ave last month was the final straw.

The Heathdale Neighbourhood Renewal zone is one of the most disadvantaged inside the Melbourne metropolitan area.

Hundreds of people displayed their disgust over the ruling in letters to be hand-delivered to VCAT.

Messages included “Come and live on our corner and you will understand why we don’t need another grog shop; “You don’t care about our children” and “We get to pick up the pieces- shame on you.”

Residents were to converge on Cassowary Reserve for a rally last Saturday, but due to the rain the event was postponed until next year.

Ms Murphy said their six years of hard work was gone in a stroke of a pen.

“We are the ones taking the can out of an 11-year-old’s hand who is blind drunk, we are the ones picking up the pieces from women being beaten,” she said.

“People are fed up and frustrated and if the courts and the police are not going to stand up then the community will.

“This is an indictment on this society.”

A new playground funded by the State Government for Cassowary Reserve alongside the shop site will no longer be built.

Ms Murphy said there was an epidemic of young people drinking in the nearby park and on the streets.

The council’s substance abuse action plan identified alcohol as one of the key health issues in the Wyndham community.

The association’s only legal avenue left is to challenge the trading hours beyond 7pm.