Geelong first-home buyers are footing the bill for builders dumping rubbish on their land, according to a woman quoted $2000 to clean her property.
Milly Keys, 24, bought land at Armstrong Creek in August 2016 with the intent to begin building last week.
But over the past two years builders had left cement, rubble, fencing panels, pallets, broken pipes, mounds of earth and other rubbish on her block.
“There’s just no respect for other people’s property,” she told the Indy.
“You have to get everything cleaned out before you start building. There’s no point cleaning it up and then cleaning it up again.”
Ms Keys’ full-time job made it impossible to constantly monitor her property and no one had owned up to making the mess, she said.
“You talk to one builder and they say it’s another builder. It keeps going ’round and ’round.
“I don’t think it’s very fair. It’s pretty disheartening that a lot of builders just don’t seem to care.”
Ms Keys noticed the rubbish begin to build up on her once-empty land as work began on homes nearby, she said.
“When houses started to go up around here that was when they started putting material on my property because they needed somewhere to put it.”
Builders dumping rubbish on vacant properties was common in her neighbourhood, Ms Keys said.
“Each block that’s empty, they’re just full of rubbish.”
She said cleaning the rubbish could cost up to $1000, with an additional cost of about $1000 to resurvey the property.
Luckily Ms Keys’ builder was “very helpful” and work was able to commence on the foundations of her home this week.
“They’ve been really good, they let you know what to do next which helps,” she said.
A manager in a prominent local building company, who wished not to be identified, admitted the problem was “common” around Geelong.
The builder-dumping issue follows ongoing concerns about householders also leaving rubbish on public land such as coastal and railway reserves.
Previous reports in the Indy have linked the illegal dumping to high tip prices, with some landfill sites charging more than $30 for a small trailer of waste.
Hopes for a reduction in illegal dumping have risen after City Hall recently announced a hard-rubbish collection trial, beginning in April.
Mayor Bruce Harwood has urged households to follow the trials collection rules, which exclude commonly dumped items such as mattresses and building waste.
“It will be successful if we all follow the guidelines, so we’re keen for everyone to read up about the service and understand how it will work,” Cr Harwood said.
