A Meadow Heights resident is on a mission to force Hume council to clean up piles of dumped rubbish.
John Mitchell offered to take Star Weekly on a tour of the municipality to point out mounds of rubbish he says the council has “turned a blind eye to”.
He said he was incensed the council had publicised a three-month cleaning blitz but failed to address hotspots used to discard bags of unwanted clothes, boxes and old furniture.
“It’s the city of shit, and it’s been that way for 20 years,” Mr Mitchell said.
One site Star Weekly visited (pictured), behind the Broadmeadows Dan Murphy’s store, was littered with couches, mattresses, cabinets and assorted waste.
Mr Mitchell said this was just one of many sites at Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn used by rubbish dumpers.
Hume mayor Adem Atmaca, who also took up Mr Mitchell’s offer to tour the worst rubbish spots, said the space behind the liquor store was on Broadmeadows shopping centre’s land and was the centre’s responsibility to remove.
“Council will ask Broadmeadows shopping centre to monitor this part of their carpark more regularly and make sure that rubbish dumping is curtailed,” Cr Atmaca said.
“Hume takes a zero tolerance approach to rubbish dumping.
“Offenders are prosecuted regularly, and face large fines,” Cr Atmaca said.
Broadmeadows shopping centre’s operations manager, David Farmer, said the centre was working with the council to stop people dumping rubbish. “We don’t support the dumping of rubbish in our carparks, nor in any public places, and will continue to monitor this practice,” Mr Farmer said.
Report illegal rubbish dumping on 1300 HUME CLEAN.
