Bentleigh East dad threatens legal action against Glen Eira Council

A father-of-two is threatening legal action against Glen Eira Council over huge flocks of birds he says are wrecking his backyard and forcing his kids to play indoors.

Simon Novytarger of Bentleigh East is fed up with dozens of birds flocking to his house every day.

A father-of-two is threatening legal action against Glen Eira Council over huge flocks of birds he says are trashing his backyard and forcing his kids to play indoors.

Bentleigh East’s Simon Novytarger says his children, aged 10 and 7, can no longer play outside, and he spends his weekends cleaning up poo because his bird-loving neighbour is obsessed with feeding pigeons and seagulls — which draws around 100 to his yard every day.

He’s now threatening to sue Glen Eira Council or stop paying his rates until the council fixes the problem.

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But council staff say they can’t fix the problem, and repeated requests to the alleged offender to stop feeding the birds, via letters and in person several times, have been ignored.

But Mr Novytarger is not alone in his plight, with the council now considering a bird-feeding ban in the municipality, following the lead of several other councils, after 37 complaints in the last financial year.

Mr Novytarger said his water bills had gone up by $400 a quarter, after he installed a sensor sprinkler to deter the flocks.

Mr Novytarger said he’d been complaining to the council for two years and had approached his neighbour several times, but under the Public Health Act, complainants are required to take logs of when feeding occurs and prove their health had been directly affected, which he said was hard when he worked full-time.

“It will get to the stage where I’ll take it to court or stop paying council rates — I’ve just had enough,” he said.

“This totally wrecks the enjoyment of my open space and I’ve threatened the council to devalue my property because no one is going to buy it if I choose to sell.”

Bentleigh East resident Simon Novytarger is furious and fed up by his neighbour, who is feeding 50-100 birds every day. Picture: Wayne Taylor

In September, councillors agreed to work towards introducing the local law and will seek feedback from residents early next year.

But Mr Novytarger said he’s sick of waiting.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” he said.

“We have a two storey house so are the worst affected, but the neighbours are backing me because they’re also ducking when they go outside and can’t hang out their washing.”

Glen Eira chief executive Rebecca McKenzie said the council had asked the alleged offender to stop feeding the birds via letters and in person several times to no avail.

“Without sufficient evidence (a nuisance exists), (we) cannot take further action,” she said.

“Council believes a local law that specifically focuses on the prohibition of bird feeding is a potential resolution to the concerns … raised by our community.”

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