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Streets ‘not your tip’
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Surveillance cameras will be installed at dumping hot spots across Hume after the council removed 40 cubic metres of waste from a site in Craigieburn. The council will also launch a pilot campaign, beginning in Craigieburn, to educate residents about the council’s free waste removal options, including two hard waste collections and two tip passes yearly. Council removed the mountain of rubbish from Highlander Drive, Craigieburn last Thursday following public complaints. It will fine 17 people over the “unsightly” pile which included cardboard boxes, mattresses, bikes, prams and bags of rubbish. Mayor Joseph Haweil said the council had enough information to fine 17 people. “We know our community is fed up with this rubbish, and so are we. It costs ratepayers $2.8 million each year, damages our environment, frustrates our residents and undermines our property values,” Cr Haweil said. “Our message is clear – our streets are not your tip.” It comes as deputy mayor Jack Medcraft called on the Hume community to “dump in the dumper” in a bid to combat an “unprecedented level” of illegal waste across the municipality. Laura Michell and Jessica Micallef
Council in a fine mess By Laura Michell Thousands of parking fines issued by Hume council could potentially be refunded after the Victorian Ombudsman found the council may have acted illegally by outsourcing its fines review process. In a report on the outsourcing of parking fine internal reviews, which was tabled in state Parliament last Wednesday, Ombudsman Deborah Glass said Hume council had advised her office in February that it had outsourced its fine reviews between 2009 and 2020. The report was a follow-up to Ms Glass’ initial report into the outsourcing of reviews at Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington councils
between 2006 and 2016, which was tabled last February. At the time, Ms Glass found that the practice of outsourcing the review process to external contractors “appeared to have been contrary to the law”. The latest report revealed that Hume council handled 25,666 fine reviews between July 2006 and December 2016, 18,775 of which were rejected. The report stated it is not known how many fines had been affected by the outsourcing process. “The council said it used a private contractor to assist parking services and internal review between 2009 and 2020,” the report stated. “It said it strengthened its review process from December 20, 2016, after legal doubts
began to emerge about the use of contractors.” The report stated that an external auditor reviewed the council’s historical use of the contractor, at the council’s request, sampling 30 internal reviews conducted between 2006 and 2016. “It found the contractor had been assessing the internal review applications and sending recommendations to council officers for decision. There were problems with just over half of the sampled reviews: either there was no evidence that a council officer approved the recommendation, or council officers appeared to have accepted the recommendation ‘without evidence of practical review’. “In other words, the council had sometimes
engaged in the same outsourcing and rubber-stamping practices as the three councils involved in the Ombudsman’s [initial] investigation.” Ms Glass said Hume council had advised that it would set up an infringement refund scheme. In a statement, Hume council said the refund scheme was for all motorists who unsuccessfully appealed an infringement between 2006 and 2016. The scheme is expected to begin in July. Hume City Council acknowledges it has used contractors in the past to support its infringement review process and believed that it had acted in accordance with the law,” the statement said.
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