Traders mad over mess – Messy Pawz owner Sue Day and Cafe 127 owner Michelle Matthes are calli

By Melissa Grant
TRADERS in Pakenham’s Main Street are fed-up with people dumping household rubbish in their skip bins.
Owner of Café 127 Michelle Matthes said the extra trash was creating an eyesore in the customer car park and traders were sick of paying for extra rubbish collections.
“We pay for our rubbish to be collected and it’s not cheap and we get people dumping their rubbish not to mention the hygiene problem,” she said.
“I pay weekly for mine and I have to ring up and get another trip out, which is $30 or $40, for other people’s rubbish.”
The site, behind Ritchies IGA, was once home to a Salvation Army bin but locals continue to discard clothes and other personal items there.
The Gazette visited the site and discovered a dozen or so full garbage bags dumped on the ground next to the four skip bins.
Messy Pawz owner Sue Day said she had found various personal items including clothes, letters and photos in and next to her bin.
“It’s mostly stuff that could go to an op-shop,” she said.
Ms Day said the positioning of the bins wasn’t ideal, not only because it was easy for people to dump rubbish there, but also because of safety issues.
“You’ve got trucks doing 240-point turns trying to get the bins,” she said.
“I’ve had customers complain to me saying that it’s not safe.”
Mrs Matthes said a cage around their skip bins would alleviate the rubbish-dumping problem, while Ms Day said the council also needed to consider moving them further away towards the railway fence line.
“If the bins were placed along the fence it would be easier for trucks,” she said.
Cardinia Shire communications manager Paul Dunlop said the use of commercial bins to illegally dump household rubbish was an ongoing problem that Cardinia Shire Council was keen to stamp out.
He said the council encouraged shop owners and residents who witnessed any form of illegal dumping to contact the council’s local laws team.
Local laws officers can issue fines of up to $227 for illegal dumping.
He said the council also encouraged businesses, where possible, to keep their bins locked and/or fenced off to prevent them from being targets for illegal dumping.