Bayswater householder lays out 35m hard rubbish pile

WHEN is too much hard waste too much? Apparently never according to a council in Melbourne’s outer east, which had no issue with the size of this “giant mess”.

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A BAYSWATER local says she was horrified as her neighbours unloaded a huge haul of hard rubbish all over their nature strip.

But Knox Council says there is no limit to how much hard rubbish residents can place out to be picked up.

Alison Wooller said she watched in horror as the “giant mess” was created over the weekend of August 14-16.

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She said the length of the pile of rubbish was about 35m and contained items that couldn’t be collected as hard rubbish.

After asking Knox Council about the rubbish, she said she was informed there was no limit on the amount of hard rubbish which could be put out.

“Personally I think that’s ridiculous and the cost of excessive amounts of rubbish removal should be borne by the householder, not ratepayers in general,” she said.

Knox Council’s engineering and infrastructure director Ian Bell confirmed there was no quantity limit with the hard waste collection service, but individual limits applied for some items.

These include a maximum of 10 pieces of timber and a limit of two mattresses.

Dr Bell said this specific case was “an unusually large” hard waste collection.

He said any unacceptable items were left behind, with collectors leaving a notice in the letterbox to advise why.

In this case, the owners were told food waste, liquids and paint could not be collected, he said.

Last July, the council changed its hard rubbish service from two set dates a year to an “at call” system where residents can book up to two collections a year.

A report was presented to a council meeting in June reviewing the controversial service, which found it was “performing well”, despite Knox Leader being inundated with letters from residents complaining that it was making the area look like a tip, with some residents placing their hard waste out before making a booking, or without making a booking at all.