Snap Send Solve app data reveals biggest gripes in the western suburbs

Dodgy parking, dumped rubbish and abandoned trolleys are the top gripes of ratepayers across Melbourne’s western suburbs. Find out what you can do to help clean up the streets.

Dumped rubbish is one of the top gripes of people living in Melbourne’s west. Picture: Snap Send Solve

Dodgy parking, dumped rubbish, abandoned shopping trolleys and shonky footpaths are the top issues driving ratepayers nuts in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

People in the west reported more than 21,000 issues via the Snap Send Solve app last year.

And pictures of wayward cars parked across driveways and footpaths and hazardous pavement reveal the extent of their frustrations.

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Data from Snap Send Solve, obtained by the Wyndham Leader, shows a sharp rise in reported issues across the broader western region — including Wyndham, Brimbank, Melton, Moonee Valley — to December last year, with incidents up nearly 27 per cent on the 2017 figures.

Come on, just a little but further... oh well, near enough is good enough, right? Picture: Snap Send Solve

It's a sign...that these people don't care about parking restrictions. Picture: Snap Send Solve

Parking woes topped the list of gripes in Wyndham at 15 per cent, followed closely by damaged Telstra pits (18 per cent) and dumped rubbish (17 per cent).

While in neighbouring Melton, abandoned trolleys and shoddy footpaths were residents’ biggest bugbears.

Dumped trolleys are among the top gripes in Melbourne's western suburbs. Picture: Snap, Send Solve

Snap Send Solve founder Danny Gorog said his app, which allows users to send a picture of a neighbourhood problem directly to the authority responsible for fixing it, was designed to make it easier and quicker to get a problem fixed.

“Typically, (making reports to authorities) is pretty slow and a bit cumbersome so we’re trying to recreate that experience to make it super quick and super efficient,” he said.

“Hopefully by doing that more people will report stuff they see around them and that gets more stuff fixed and we all end up living in a better world.”

Good luck getting a pram or wheelchair through there. Picture: Snap Send Solve

Broken footpaths are a huge problem in Melbourne's western suburbs. Picture: Snap Send Solve

Mr Gorog said he worked with authorities such as local councils, telecommunications companies and supermarkets, to make sure action was taken.

“There’s a lot of stuff in the streets that has nothing to do with the council but people generally think the council is responsible,” he said.

“Abandoned trolleys, graffitied or damaged power or telephone poles, water leaks — they’re things the council has no interest in receiving reports on because they can’t fix them.

Mr Gorog said there were nearly 9000 reports of abandoned Coles trolleys across Australia last year, as well as more than 8000 Woolworths trolleys and 1500 from Aldi.

Damaged Telstra pits were also a huge issue, with more than 4000 reports last year, he said.

You can help clean the streets up by downloading the Snap Send Solve app to your smartphone and following the easy steps to report an issue.