We all appreciate the sense and simplicity of a clean and tidy neighbourhood. But what happens when this tranquil scene is torn to shreds by mounds of unsightly rubbish discarded carelessly on the side of the road?

Well, it certainly can ruffle a fair few feathers, sparking bitter disputes and dividing communities, just like it's done in the coastal city of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.

Photos of a street in Cardiff, in the Hunter region, piled high with rubbish, were posted online with the caption 'this is Australia', igniting a word war between locals.

Unwanted items, including mattresses, drawers, boxes, whitegoods and bedding, could be seen strewn all over the kerb.

Photos of a rubbish-filled street in Cardiff sparked debate among the community. Credit: Facebook

'Making our beautiful country look like slums, who pays for the compensation when someone gets hurt?' questioned one local, highlighting a valid concern.

Other social media users agree that the mentioned street is ‘gross’ and ‘disgusting’, with one writing, ‘Every time I have driven past there, it has a bunch of rubbish out the front on the path.’

However, other residents disputed these claims. 'I drive past here every day, and it’s only like this for bulk waste,' one woman wrote. 'And with the amount of units there, of course, there will be a large amount.'

The debate then shifted to whether or not the tenants were the ones to blame for the 'foul' state of the rubbish.

Some argued that the street is always filled with mess anyway, while others said that people start off by neatly placing their bulk waste items on the street for Council collection, but then scavengers come and make a mess out of them.

Residents claimed that the rubbish on the street is caused by scavengers who go through the rubbish. Credit: Facebook

‘Most people put out a neat pile, then you get the scavengers who root through it and leave a mess,’ someone explained.

This was echoed by one local woman, who revealed that after she 'very neatly' left bulk waste items in front of her home for Council collection, multiple people 'ripped open bags, tipped things everywhere and made a complete mess out of it’.

'It’s the people going through the stuff at fault rather than those who leave rubbish on the kerb for Council clean-up,' she argued.

Some pointed out that Lake Macquarie Council should be doing more in terms of conducting bulk waste collections and giving residents designated dates on which rubbish items may be placed out for collection. The Council’s website does reveal a series of pick-up dates in the area.

Speaking to a news source, a spokesperson for Lake Macquarie Council confirmed that there is a bulk waste collection happening this week in the suburb.

'This will be the final bulk waste collection for Cardiff before the council transitions to a new bookable service in 2024,' the spokesperson said. 'One of the key reasons is to improve the visual appearance of our city.'

This isn’t the first time an issue like this has occurred. Earlier this year, a woman in Sydney named Sapir Midroni cleaning her home was left with more rubbish than she bargained for after strangers dumped their own rubbish in her Council collection pile.

Midroni stated that she neatly arranged her items on the street, but the council had failed to arrive and collect them on schedule. The next day, she discovered that more rubbish had been added to her pile, some blocking the entrance to her home.

Key Takeaways

• Piles of rubbish beside a street in Cardiff, New South Wales, have sparked a bitter dispute among neighbours over cleanliness and council bulk waste collections.
  
• The mess, which includes household items like a mattress and drawers, has been described by locals as making Australia look like a 'slum'.
  
• Some locals blame the mess on scavengers who root through neatly piled rubbish and leave a mess, while others claim the particular street always has rubbish on it.
  
• A spokesperson for Lake Macquarie Council has confirmed a bulk waste collection is currently happening in the area and that this would be the final collection before the council transitions to a bookable service in 2024.
  

Members, who do you think is the ‘real culprit’ behind this mess? Let us know in the comments below!

 

[Ezzy]

We do not receive Tip Passes, get 2 green pickups which is mulched l believe & used by our Council & 2 Rubbish collections which can include Fridges which have a certificate to say they have been degassed. Old tyres, glass, mirrors or glass top tables are not taken. Not bad at all.

 

[Mrtnst]

I've lived in many apartments and several houses in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

Everywhere I lived in apartments that had small kerbside bins, supplemented by kerbside pick-up the problem of scavengers, and fly-tipping neighbours occurred.

And it doesn't matter if you wait until the day before to put your rubbish out, councils don't pick-up different types of waste separately, sometimes on different days. Plus some people have shifts or holidays that prevent them putting their rubbish out the night before.

Only the apartments that arranged skip bins, that were taken out by a building manager avoided the problem. But councils generally only permitted if there are commercial tenants in the building as well.

Homes can also have similar problems, but the size of the problem is, usually much smaller.

My last home was in a place where you had to take bulk waste to the tip, without having to pay. But hiring a vehicle to get it there cost a bundle.