Fraser Rd Beerwah residents (L-R)Ken Smith and Jim McNamara feel Austalia Zoo are not respecting them as neighbours.

Jason Dougherty / Sunshine Coast Daily

THEY can tolerate a stream of traffic and don't mind if the neighbours have a few people over but Jim McNamara and Ken Smith say it's the lack of respect from their neighbours which really upsets them.

And when you live next to Australia Zoo, it can be hard to drop over and have a chat.

The men live on Fraser Road - once a peaceful country track but now a route for hundreds of coaches and cars using one of the zoo's giant carparks.

Even on a normal day, hundreds of staff drive past the men's homes to park their cars and then go past again on the buses taking them into the zoo.

When the zoo is busy, the narrow road is crammed with hundreds of extra cars driven by visitors who could not fit into the main carpark.

Throw in a recent stream of trucks carting dirt for earthworks at the zoo and it's more like a highway than a country road.

Even with all that, the men say a “little common courtesy” from the zoo would be enough to keep them happy.

“We used to get along well,” Mr McNamara said.

“But things changed (after Steve died). They took away our annual passes and they used to have a morning tea to thank all the neighbours but they've told us last year was the last one.

“We just seem to be the ones doing all the giving and they do all the taking.”

Ken Smith has lived on Fraser Road for 20 years said the zoo had forgotten how to be a good neighbour.

“They don't seem to give a damn about us anymore - we're just the people who live down the road and they don't see any reason to be particularly nice to us.

“They have never approached us to apologise about the extra traffic or to warn us when they're going to have a busy day.

“It's just common courtesies they used to do but don't seem to feel like they have to anymore.”

A spokeswoman for the zoo said the tradition of inviting neighbours for a morning tea had not been cancelled and staff visited neighbours to ensure communication was kept open.

“We endeavour to meet the needs of our neighbours wherever possible,” she said.

Two other neighbours said they had never had any problems dealing with the zoo.

But one said she could understand what the two men were saying.

“I've never had any problems but, yes, maybe they could have been more diplomatic in the way they revoked the annual passes,” she said.