Rental tenants leave rubbish on the streets
HIGH rental areas should be taken better care of by the Town of Victoria Park, according to one resident who is sick of bulk rubbish being left on the street.
The Town holds two bulk rubbish collections a year at a cost of $80,000 for the pick-up as well as tip fees.
But resident William Booth says in areas where people come and go regularly the Town should acknowledge that more regular pick-ups are needed.
He said on one occasion he had counted nine mattresses on Clydesdale Street, probably left there by tenants who were moving and could not take their belongings. And when council staff came to investigate they only left signs threatening fines for dumping.
“I understand the council’s quandary but why should it sit there for weeks? It blocks paths; if you were in a wheelchair there’s no way you would get by,” he said.
He said instead of sticking to the letter of the law, the council should just accept that it needed to do more collections in high rental areas.
“The council has to come and pick it up;that’s why we pay rates,” he said.
“It’s a cumulative problem and the bottom line is that the council has the responsibility to keep the verges clean.”
Town chief executive Arthur Kyron said the Town’s bulk collection contractor could provide owners of rental properties with extra collections at a charge if they required it.
“In addition, the Town’s waste management strategy supports initiatives associated with more policing and educating property management agencies to facilitate improvement in the management of this particular problem,” he said.
He added that Town rangers investigated reports of illegal dumping and if the person responsible could not be identified the Town would then pick up the rubbish.
“Signs are placed in prominent locations to remind people that such dumping activities are illegal,” he said.
“In some places they are having an effect, but in others they may not.”
By Rachel Watts
Source: In My Community, Perth, Western Australia. Southern Gazette
