Greater Dandenong Council has acted on court orders to “clean-up” a Dandenong North property after ongoing hoarding issues.
The council took the legal route after a decade of complaints by neighbours and talks between council and owner Wally Usachov about the piles of items inside and outside his property.
For Mr Usachov, what he considered to be his “valuables” have now been removed as a result of the ‘clean-up’.
“I closed my eyes on a lot of the things a lot had to go straight in the bin.
“Furniture, bits and pieces – electrical, new items, appliances, DVD’s and books.
“They brought the biggest bins but they were barely full because there’s no waste to put in.”
He says the clean-up took place over the course of at least three days. Upon completion a further inspection was held.
Council’s executive director city futures, Sanjay Manivasagasivam says the resident is continuing to cooperate and the matter is ongoing.
“While we hired contractors to remove a large volume of material, we also cooperated and engaged with the resident so they could continue their own clean up efforts.
“One of our priorities was to remove fuel or chemicals that posed a safety risk and dispose of them appropriately.
“As far as possible, e-waste and metals that could be salvaged have been separated out.
“We contacted not-for-profit organisation Brainwave Bikes, and they collected a load of bikes to upcycle and re-home.”
In a previous conversation with Mr Usachov, he told Star Journal that if council forcibly removes his items, he would be forced to go out and collect more items as he “restore and fixes things” to sell on online to support himself financially.
Mr Usachov fears he could be charged up to $100,000 for council contractors to remove offending property from his premises.
As reported previously, Mr Usachov made efforts and cleaned up the junk laid at the nature strip.
Also gone were up to five trailers packed to the top, a long line of trucks, a ute with a trailer filled with junk as well, all which blocked the neighbouring house’s view.
However, the council appeared to be concerned about the chattels remaining inside his fence.
“What I do in my yard is my business. I’m not interfering with any of the neighbours, doing my own little projects and hobbies,” Mr Usachov told Star Journal previously.
“They (council staff and contractors) want to come in the house, internally and externally, literally clean it out. I’ll be left with nothing.”
