Family homes in Wollert estate surrounded by garbage piles

Moving into a new home is an exciting time for young families, but residents at this development in Melbourne’s north will be surrounded by rubbish instead.

A family in Melbourne’s outer north is about to have an exciting move into their newly built home tarnished by mountains of dumped rubbish surrounding their property.

Wollert resident Tejas Patel said he wasn’t looking forward to moving his family into the new Eden Gardens estate at the end of this month due to widespread illegally dumped rubbish.

“It’s getting worse day by day, every time I go there’s more rubbish dumped,” Mr Patel said.

“When I come out of my new house … it's on my nature strip.”

Eden Gardens is a new estate that sits in the middle of Epping and Wollert, with many of the lots still empty, giving illegal rubbish dumpers the opportunity to litter scot-free.

Mr Patel has lived in Wollert for the last 11 years and has tried contacting the council and developer Core Projects multiple times over the illegal dumping issue, but has heard nothing back.

Tejas Patel with his family, who live in Wollert. Picture: Supplied.

“It’s just really, really bad, they’re not doing anything … it’s been months now,” he said.

Mr Patel said along with construction debris, the rubbish piles contained furniture, white goods, kids toys, car parts and even rotting food.

He said his family would be one of the first to move into his street, but more families would be following soon.

“Someone’s coming around and just throwing and dumping stuff in the estate because it’s all empty … but houses are getting built left, right and centre,” he said.

Mr Patel said he was at a loss with how to fix the rubbish problem and worried about his two primary-aged children living in the area.

“I've given up, I don’t know what to do. My builder has put in numerous complaints to council, I’ve emailed my developer, I’ve sent a request form to council and I’ve called and emailed the council.

“No one has contacted me about anything.”

It’s not the first time Wollert residents living in new housing developments have had issues with illegal dumping, after residents of Amber Estate complained to council over the mess on their streets.

In new estates, the developer is typically responsible for maintaining the condition of the public areas, such as footpaths and nature strips for an initial period.

Whittlesea Council chief executive Craig Lloyd said officers were “actively patrolling” neighbourhoods and used a range of methods including cameras and sifting through rubbish to track down and identify dumping offenders.

“(The council) has stepped up its surveillance of litter hot spots and is actively investigating incidents of illegal dumping and issuing on the spot fines for people or companies caught dumping rubbish,” Mr Lloyd said.

“Council is also actively working with developers, particularly in our growth areas such as Wollert, and partnering with neighbouring councils to tackle illegal rubbish dumping in the area.”

Core Projects has been contacted for comment.