Sole residents on Victorian street sick of road being turned into dumping ground
Neil Monsant and his partner are the only residents who live on Mt Atkinson Road in Truganina.
The 1-kilometre stretch of gravel and earth west of Melbourne has become a dumping ground for piles of rubbish, and Monsant has had enough.
The state of Mt Atkinson Road. A Current Affair
“It’s disgusting,” he told A Current Affair.
“It’s just filth ... what sort of human being do you have to be driving around at night to be like, ‘Oh I’ll dump this rubbish here?’”
He says he has seen it all, from toilet basins to cars, boats and building waste, and it is becoming a nightmare for him.
He runs his own auto electrician business from home, and he claims the appalling state of the road is driving customers away, and causing a danger when he and his partner drive.
Monsant has had enough, claiming it has hurt his business and risks his safety. A Current Affair
“Nails all time, like screws and nails and stuff all through the road,” he said.
“Always getting punctures in our tyres.”
Monsant has taken to confronting those who illegally dump waste on his road, but he claims that no one is willing to take responsibility and clean up his street.
“Every time there’s been someone that’s [dumped] rubbish, we’ve called the council and they’ve, within a week or two, they’ve sent someone out and picked it up, but all of a sudden this year they’ve turned around and said, ‘No, private road, we’re not responsible for it anymore’,” Monsant claimed.
He is fed up, and wants someone to help him.
Watch the full story in the video player above
Quotes attributable to a Victorian government spokesperson
“Illegal dumping is against the law – we’re backing the EPA’s Illegal Dumping Taskforce to ramp up surveillance and enforcement, catch offenders and hold them to account.”
“Melton City Council has applied for support through our $8.5 million Illegal Dumping Clean-up Rebate Program, which supports councils and public land managers to remove illegally dumped waste.”
Attributable to a Melton City Council spokesperson
Council has been actively engaging with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), as the landowner, to explore both clean-up options and longer-term solutions to help address the ongoing dumping and its impacts on the community.”
“Council shares the concerns of the residents in this area and the impact ongoing dumping can have on safety, property access and the local environment.”
"Illegal rubbish dumping is disgraceful. It continues to place a significant financial burden on our community. Last financial year alone, Council spent more than $3 million removing illegally dumped rubbish from Council-managed land. That's funding that could otherwise be invested in local roads, community facilities and services for residents.
"Our message to anyone illegally dumping rubbish is simple: stop. This behaviour is illegal, selfish and unfair on the people who live nearby. You wouldn't want someone dumping waste in your backyard, so don't do it in someone else's."
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