I've never done it myself but have seen countless times cars; trucks and vans collecting hard rubbish on nature strips. I think its a great idea, after all "one man's trash is another man's treasure". However, according to this case it is ILLEGAL to take anything on the nature strip because its considered council property.
Read below:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/man-arrested-for-a…
Thoughts?
Gone are the days of dumping your stuff outside and turning around and its gone…………………
Well some professionals pick thru all the rubbish vs the casual taker. Hopefully the police here used some commonsense - ie was it "a professional" vs an opportunist. Guess the judge may apply that criteria.
When I place stuff out, I put a sign saying free, please take. I think that may get round the issue, as it is my property, left on the side of the road, with permission by the council.
The best way is to knock on someones door and ask. I have done that a few times, and been given extra stuff. Also landholder now knows they can add to pile as often there is a size limit on what can be placed out.
I have never been knocked back. Although now the misses wont let me do it.
Same here.
I stopped looking when my misses threaten me to add to to the pile. She reakons I am hard rubbish.
Better than being soft rubbish
wow…that's unbelievable
we just throw away the things we don't need
as one man's trash is another man's treasure
we threw away our oven and even helped the opportunist to put it in his truck
… aiding and abetting is a criminal offence.
o oh!
probably worst than scavenging itself!
well I'm sure they'd like to be able to fine you for it if they could.
Nah, you just have to yell out loudly for the benefit of any rangers nearby: No no no, please take your oven away and don't add to our collection. :P
… and soon you'll be double dipping on coke vouchers!!
love this comment from the link above
Kate of Castlemaine Posted at 11:03 AM Today
Council property once it's on the nature strip… so that's council land? Come and regularly mow the darn thing then!!
She certainly has a point there!
Great point. My council only mows the front once every 5 weeks (on average). Just before the mowing, the lawn is more like a jungle.
Lucky, we have to mow our curbside
Your council mows? Wow…!
seems pretty insane, so if i spot a $1 coin that someone has dropped on the foot path, i can be arrested for stealing if i pick it up?
I think the official reasoning is that you booked a collection and once you put the stuff on the NS, it's theirs.
But they say its illegal to take anything from the nature strip, so even if I throw my oven out on the nature strip during a non-collection period, its still illegal for passerbys to take it which to me sounds ridiculous
Ah, those book-happy rangers will get you for dumping without calling for a collection and the passerby for aiding and abetting. :(
so even if I throw my oven out on the nature strip during a non-collection period, its still illegal for passerbys to take it which to me sounds ridiculous
it's actually illegal to throw your oven out on the nature strip during a non-collection period…
you can get fined by your council…
tl;dr don't pick up rubbish, even if you drop it
Seems to be a legitimate defence for littering!
Looks like we are creating more jobs in Australia. :P
In their defence (speaking up on behalf of council? Oh god no!) selling the scrap metal is probably how they fund the operation. If someone is going around picking up scrap metal to sell (and I've seen that happen) they are undermining the whole process. I'm not talking about occasional scavangers, I'm talking about the professional outfits (complete with spotlights)!
I put out a non functional clothes dryer and it was gone within hours. There are definitely people who are doing the money for scrap metal thing.
Speaking of which, I have noticed that if a CRT (TV or computer monitor) has been dumped, chances are that a scavenger has broken the CRT neck and taken the deflection yoke. I suspect this is due to the amount of valuable copper in it. Can someone confirm?
I hope this isn't off-topic.
yes, they do this with tvs and CRTs. also seen microwave ovens busted open. one cable won't get you much money but when you start scavenging into the hundreds and thousands you can rack up quite a bit of $$$.
Hmmm. Maybe I should start collecting all these 'junk' and make my own Mythbuster documentary.
Looking for an advise. If I see dog poo on a nature strip, do I ask the council to penalise the council for not maintaining hygiene on their land.
… they might say, go help yourself ;)
Probably ditch your complaint/concern into the yellow recycling bin.
collect the poop and send them the bill for your services.
If you get caught, just tell them you were taking your vacuum cleaner for a walk down the street. :P Kidding…
Though this is ****ing ridiculous! This is what rates are for, we throw away too much crap and the council want to penalise people for recycling…yet most provide recycling bins…W…T…F?
The way the council collects is quite organised too - I saw a truck that was collecting only mattresses. I'm pretty sure anything remotely valuable ie. metal get ripped out of things before they hit the landfill. The councils probably make money on the process.
Friend of mine observed a recycler at work. Seems he sorted out the rubbish before putting it on the truck, e.g. metals, plastics, cables etc. Whether to reduce volume or because it was his routine to do this onsite we don't know.
There's been some clarification:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/22/3170723.htm
Seems it's an urban myth that the property belongs to the council once placed on the nature strip.
From that:
In some council areas it is legal to scavenge, other councils have by-laws that assign the right to collect to contractors alone.
Municipal Association of Victoria says people who take valuable goods reduce the chance councils will offer collection services.
Yes, but the ownership never transfers to council, the rubbish still belongs to the householder until picked up. What such by-laws say is that only contractors can pick up the rubbish.
Which reminds me that Lane Cove/Willoughby is having a collection of e-waste this weekend for those who live around there. No issues with nature strips though, you have to deliver to the collection centre at Small Street, Willoughby.
So to be clear, if I get on the nature strips, I will be officially be owned by the council? Are they gonna feed me and pay me for being their property?
Whoever heard of property getting paid? You'll get assigned to the chain gang. :P
i love hard rubbish collection.
That sounds like bureaucracy gone mad. I used to pick off entire computers, strip the parts I wanted and spit out the bones with other stuff I wanted to get rid off. I was also happy if somebody found a use for the stuff I put out. Looks like I shall have to be more cautious if I spot something in future.
Will they also arrest me if I add to someone else's pile? I take advantage of that too. Officialdom, sigh.