Few Sydney suburbs are squeezed by pest pressure the way Woolloomooloo is – from the water, from the parkland, and from within its own historic streets.

Start at the harbour. The foreshore, seawalls and wharf structures are prime rodent habitat: rats shelter in the rock and timber by day and follow food up into the streets by night. The waterfront dining precinct keeps them fed year-round, and every bin room, laneway and terrace courtyard between the water and William Street sits on their route. The naval facilities at nearby Garden Island add yet more hard-to-reach waterfront structure along the bay.

Then there’s the green side. The Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens border Woolloomooloo to the west – beautiful, but a constant staging ground for rodents, possums and ants that push into the terrace rows on the slopes each evening looking for easier meals.

Finally, the buildings themselves. Woolloomooloo’s housing is a striking mix: tightly packed 19th-century terraces with shared party walls, subfloors and roof voids, alongside apartment living on and around the Finger Wharf – a heritage timber structure built over the water, full of voids, service runs and under-deck spaces that pests exploit. Different buildings, same result: problems that spread between neighbours unless they’re treated at the source. That’s exactly how we treat them.