Bayside Council under fire for refusing to relax local laws during COVID-19 pandemic
A Sandringham man staying home for weeks due to a compromised immune system has been fined for not cleaning graffiti on his garage — and the council is threatening to fine him again unless he breaks his quarantine to clean it up.
Inner South
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Bayside Council has copped a spray after fining a Sandringham man $500 for failing to clean up “unsightly” graffiti on his garage wall and door.
The council wants him to clear the vandalism but Hamish Sutherland told the Leader he’s been self-isolating for weeks because of health problems.
He said fences and garages along Gypsy Way were constantly being tagged, with new paint appearing almost as soon as it’s cleared.
And three weeks ago he was slapped with the $500 fine for “unsightly land” after he allegedly ignored warnings to clean up the vandals’ latest work.
Mr Sutherland said he never received the warning notices and last week was issued a separate clean-up notice, ordering him to remove the graffiti by April 8 or face another $500 fine.
Other properties have also been targeted by graffiti but it is not clear if anyone else has been fined.
Mr Sutherland said he had no issue removing the “ugly graffiti” but feared going to the shops to buy paint supplies during the global COVID-19 pandemic due to his compromised immune system.
“The council has been completely unreasonable to deal with at a time where there are legitimate health and financial concerns,” he said.
“I’ve been isolating for about three weeks now and I really don’t want to go out to the shops.
“I intend to comply and paint over the graffiti when the health crisis passes and I’ve told the council this.”
Mr Sutherland said the council demanded a letter from a GP confirming he was taking immune-suppressors before they would consider deferring action against him.
“Even then they only said they might consider it, not that they would,” he said.
“(The staff member) was really rude to me on the phone and sort of scoffed like he didn’t believe me and when I asked him to put it in writing that they needed a GP’s letter, he said he was too busy.
“Surely medics’ time is a bit more precious at the moment than the council’s but they want me to waste my doctor’s time getting a letter — they wouldn’t accept copies of my prescriptions.”
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Mr Sutherland said he’d been “treated as guilty” from the start.
“I didn’t put the graffiti there, I can’t stand it either but I’m in this bizarre position and the interaction with the council has been just awful,” he said.
“They don’t believe me when I say I didn’t get their warning and, frustratingly, don’t believe I take immune suppressants,” he said.
“I’ve been pursued as a criminal and a lair from the start.”
Mr Sutherland called on the council to ease up on fines and enforcement in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People are doing it tough financially and (the council) is being harsh and unreasonable,” he said.
Bayside Council didn’t say what its protocol was regarding anyone providing proof they should be in isolation but said it was managing the payments of fines “on a case-by-case basis” as part of its appeals process.
Bayside acting director city planning and amenity Matthew Cripps said the council was working to support the community through the COVID-19 outbreak “including navigating the financial impacts”.
“The coronavirus pandemic is ever-evolving and Council is constantly reviewing and adjusting the way we deliver our services in this new environment,” he said.