Yarra council urges residents to get to know the neighbours – by giving them your rubbish

A Greens-run Melbourne council says the best way to get to know your neighbours is to give them your excess rubbish.

Adam and Kathleen Promnitz (front) with eight-month-old son Xavier and residents in Abbotsford are upset about overflowing bins. Picture: David Geraghty

Meet the neighbours - give them your rubbish.

A social media post by an inner-city Melbourne council urging residents with overflowing wheelie bins to ask their neighbours to take their rubbish has been ridiculed by ratepayers.

The ‘get-to-know-your-neighbours’ vibe from the Greens-run Yarra council fell flat among householders angry that their recycling rubbish only being collected every fortnight.

The collection change has forced many residents to jam recyclable material into their landfill bin over Christmas.

The Yarra Facebook post that sparked the outcry and ridicule.

Independent councillor Stephen Jolly described the Facebook post, which had attracted hundreds of angry comments, as “tone deaf”.

The idea that dumping your rubbish in your neighbours’ bin was a way to “get to know” them was madness, he said.

One resident described the Yarra council post as a “comedy script”. Others said it was silly, arrogant and out of touch.

The Yarra Residents Collective has called for a backflip on the policy and reinstate weekly collections. Residents had instead received a bin with a purple lid for glass recycling.

The Yarra debacle comes after Hobsons Bay council in Melbourne’s west changed household collections from weekly to fortnightly in April and then told residents that they could drop off any excess rubbish at the tip – despite stay-at-home restrictions during the first lockdown.

Other Melbourne councils are introducing FOGO (food organic, garden organic) bins to reduce the amount of waste going into household bins but most collections have remained the same for now.

Bins on the streets of the City of Yarra are now overflowing. Supplied: Facebook.

Mayor Gabrielle de Vietri said the change was experiencing teething problems but no major changes were likely.

“Everyone is used to the old system including myself, and it takes six weeks to form a new habit so there is a kind of teething period.

Council had helped hundreds of residents to adapt including getting larger bins or sharing with neighbours, which Cr de Vietri had done herself.

“That’s the approach that’s being preferred by the waste team, rather than overarching changes as a knee-jerk reaction to a system has only just been rolled out.

“We’ve had a chance to work with residents to address the small scale and individualised problems which are really easier to fix, rather than, expensive costly overhauls.’’

Yarra Residents Collective Adam Promnitz said household rubbish volumes had increased at most homes because of Christmas and people working from home.

“We warned them as far back as February this would not work.’’

Richmond resident Chrissy said the problem was becoming worse.

“We have a Greens council and it’s just ridiculous. We want to recycle but we can’t.’’

North Fitzroy streets are lined with recycling bins unable to cope. Picture: Facebook

Overflowing bins are a familiar site on the streets of Abbotsford. Picture: Supplied

Cr Jolly said the streets of Yarra were now a mess. The move had backfired, he said, and that Greens councillors needed to acknowledge a policy failure because people had to use their household rubbish bin for their excess recycling material.

“What the Greens have done here in the name of recycling and saving the planet, they are actually making recycling rates lower.’’

Cr Jolly said poorer people, such as public housing tenants, were most affected by the change.

“They don’t have the money to be buying eco-friendly, carbon-neutral, organic products. They’re buying the cheapest presents.’’

After Christmas, residents’ bins are struggling to cope with the volumes of rubbish.

Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly says recycling bins need to be collected weekly.

Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston said Yarra had failed to consult or listen to its ratepayers.

“Yarra council needs to go back to the drawing board.

“It’s a core council service. If they can’t get this right, then what are we paying them for?

The Facebook page was “totally tone deaf and out of touch’’, he said.

Some Melbourne suburban councils have fortnightly recycling collections but usually have bigger bins and more space to store them unlike the increasingly crowded inner city.

The state government is rolling out a four-bin waste and recycling system “in partnership with councils’’.

But each council decides on the frequency of collections.

@IanRoyall