Cade Lucas
The owner of a Laverton North property claims Wyndham council wrongly sanctioned him over a tyre stockpile on the site.
Gabor Fleiszig is demanding council rescind a contravention notice issued to him on July 19 for storing more than a 1000 tyres on the property in Pipe Road, Laverton North.
Mr Fleiszig said the tyres, which were considered a fire hazard, were not stored but were dumped by a former tenant at the end of their lease in June.
He said the tyres were in already the process of being removed when the notice was issued.
“After we started removing the tyres and removed two-thirds of them we received a contravention notice from council that we were storing tyres on our site without a permit” said Mr Fleiszig.
Mr Fleiszig said he had already been in contact with council about the dumping of the tyres, which he claims occurred on June 2 and again on June 13, with the latter damaging fencing on the property.
In a statement, Wyndham council said it was first notified of the issue by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and Fire Rescue Victoria and weren’t aware of Mr Fleiszig reporting the dumping before issuing him with the contravention notice.
“Council did not commence an investigation into the dumping of the tyres on the understanding that the property owner had directly reported the dumping to other agencies who were investigating the alleged offender.”
In a statement, EPA western metropolitan regional manager Stephen Lansdell confirmed the EPA was investigating the matter.
“We are working with Wyndham council on the investigation, which began with a report from Fire Rescue Victoria and a call from a member of the public on 28 June 2023.”
Wyndham council said the stockpile of tyres was especially hazardous given they were stored on a property next to a service station and that the contravention notice was required to ensure their prompt removal.
“Council was satisfied upon re-inspection, six days later, that all tyres had been removed.”
While the contravention notice doesn’t carry a fine, Mr Fleiszig said he still wanted it removed.
Wyndham council said there was no process for rescinding the contravention notice, but that now the tyres had been removed, it no longer stood.
