By Alesha Capone
Wyndham council will conduct a review into ways it may be able to hold short-term rental accommodation providers to account.
A council spokesperson last week said: “Council is concerned about blatant breaches of COVID-19 restrictions in short-term rental accommodation.
“We will be reviewing what legal avenues Wyndham as a local government authority can draw on to regulate this sector as well as examining how other councils have responded.
Wyndham mayor Josh Gilligan said the council would hold the review “following a series of unruly incidents in recent years”.
Cr Gilligan said this included an illegal party, which was held in a short-stay accommodation premises in Point Cook last month, in breach of pandemic regulations.
Police fined 11 partygoers who attended the event, which was held in an apartment.
Footage of the event, which was posted on Snapchat and obtained by Channel Nine news, showed people dancing to music under disco lights.
Cr Gilligan described the party as “totally unacceptable”.
“The majority of the regulated accommodation industry is doing the right thing but it is imperative that the state government cracks down on those who aren’t,” Cr Gilligan said.
“I will not accept holiday houses across Wyndham flouting the law and putting the health of our residents at risk.
“We’re in this together and only if we do the right thing will we be able to stop the spread of coronavirus.”
Alesha Capone
