Local resident Kristine White received a notice to remove a pallet and bag of mulch from her verge, following a green waste verge collection.
Ms White, who is undergoing dialysis at Armadale Hospital, received a green slip notice on Monday, September 6 stating she had to remove the mulch by September 7.
Being unwell and not having the means to remove the mulch, Ms White still had it on her verge on September 8, which is when she received a white slip alerting her that she would have to have it removed by September 10 to avoid a $200 to $500 fine.
“I was really only given three days,” Ms White said.
“Something a bit more realistic would be two weeks.
“I haven’t been able to sleep and it’s had an impact on my health.”
Bunnings had delivered the mulch some time ago and according to Ms White a special crane was used to place it.
“I had my whole front yard landscaped about a year ago, so I didn’t want the pallet to be on top of the new lawn,” she said.
“The delivery couldn’t go on the driveway, they had to use a crane on the back of a truck and that’s as far as it could get.
“People are coming out of the woodwork to help me move the mulch.”
According to City of Armadale Chief Executive Joanne Abbiss, during green waste verge collections, resident liaison officers check verges for compliance.
“If a pile left on a verge is noncompliant, such as too large, or too long, or placed too close to fences/structures, a non-conformance slip is issued explaining the reasons for non-compliance,” she said.
“The resident is given two days to remove the item or to relocate their pile.
“After this period, the resident liaison officer returns and if the noncompliant item remains, a second notice is issued and the resident is provided with another two days to remove the item.
“After another two days, the officer again returns and if the non-compliant item still remains, a third and final notice is issued. If the resident does not contact the city, as a last resort, an infringement of $200-$500 is issued.”
Ms Abbiss said the city is flexible regarding extenuating circumstances such as Ms White’s and is always happy to work with residents.
“Infringements are only ever issued as a last resort,” she said.
“All notices have contact details for the waste services team for residents to contact officers, if they wish to do so.
“In this particular case, there were extenuating circumstances, the resident contacted the city on the afternoon of September 8 and spoke with one of our waste administration team.
“The relevant officer was not in the office and returned the resident’s call on 9 September.
“The officer advised the resident to disregard the notice and take the time they needed to move the item. The resident was also advised that we would not leave any further notices to remove the item and would not be issuing an infringement.”
