Mountain of abandoned hard rubbish spills over to footpath in Elton Rd, Ferntree Gully

A MASSIVE pile of hard rubbish that has littered a Ferntree Gully street for more than a month has spilt over onto the footpath, raising the ire of neighbours.

A giant pile of hard rubbish has in Elton Rd, Ferntree Gully has been left on the nature strip for more than a month.

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A MASSIVE pile of hard rubbish that has been on a Ferntree Gully street for more than a month has spilt over onto the footpath and raised the ire of neighbours.

Several residents contacted the Knox Leader to report the pile of rubbish on Elton Rd, with complaints to Knox Council going unheeded.

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Resident Merle Kattouw said she had contacted the council three times over three weeks to report the waste and was told the owner had until March 17 to remove it.

She said she was told if the rubbish was not removed by then, the council would “pick it up and probably then fine the owner”.

“There must be a better and more streamlined way to deal with hard waste ‘dumped’ in this manner,” Ms Kattouw said.

The mountain of trash has spread onto the footpath, creating a hazard for neighbours.

“Council drags its feet in the hope that by some magic means the waste will miraculously disappear.

“That rubbish has been on that nature strip for the past five weeks and has now increased to such an extent that one cannot even walk on the footpath.

“Prompt and decisive action must be taken to pick up the rubbish within two weeks, at least, of it being reported ... and then pursue the owner with the necessary fines.”

Another resident who contacted Leader, Colin, said he also rang the council about the rubbish, which he said was a hazard blocking the footpath.

The council introduced its new hard-rubbish system on July 1, 2014, allowing people to book two collections a year, moving away from a twice-yearly scheduled collection.

There has been continued outrage from residents over hard-rubbish dumping and unscheduled bookings around Knox.

But the scheduled collections have proven so popular the council has budgeted an extra $328,000 in 2016-17 to meet demand.

Mayor Darren Pearce said the council was aware of the rubbish and “expects this particular matter to be resolved by early next week”.

He did not say when and how many times the council had been alerted to the waste.

He said it was illegal to put hard waste on the footpath without a booking and “must be removed as per Council’s direction”.

Cr Pearce did not say if the person who put the rubbish there would be sanctioned.

People were encouraged to use the two bookings per year to have hard rubbish collected, he said.

For more information or to book a hard-rubbish collection in Knox, phone [phone].