Hoarder home Berkeley Vale: Tatted-up woman declares she doesn’t want to be ‘judged’ for her piles of junk piled up on her footpath – as neighbourhood war erupts about ‘living next to a dump’

A neighborhood war has erupted over a chronic collector’s house which is filled with so much trash that it is sprawling “over the road”.

The property’s front yard, carport and footpath in Berkeley Vale on the NSW Central Coast is full of unregistered cars, ladders, building materials and all sorts of abandoned waste.

Those living on the street are fed up with the unsightly clutter and are “begging” the municipality to intervene, calling the house “toxic” and “dangerous”.

But Jess, who lives at the address in question, sees things very differently.

“That’s exactly how we live. Everyone has a different way of living. And I don’t want to be judged on that just because I live here,” she said. A current case from his balcony.

“It’s not junk, it’s really worth the money and it’s our business.” We make money with it. It contains no rodents or snakes, my cat goes all in it.

The woman, who has a large tattoo on her left arm, claimed that many items littering the property are worth thousands of dollars.

“It’s not hogwash, so that dog thing right there is worth three grand,” she said.

“Listen, one, two, three, four, five, six damn snipers hanging here on the fence. It’s money.

‘Lego. It’s worth the money. Collectibles, she said, holding up a bag of Lego bricks.

Neighbor and father-of-two Llewellyn tries to ignore the mess and looks away as he sits on his veranda.

But living next to this horror has taken its toll.

“I call it the scrapyard…it’s like living next to a landfill. You’ve got the rats, you’ve got the mess,” Llewellyn said.

“But when I see the ute coming in with more stuff, I get anxious, I get angry. But I’m especially angry at the council because really they’re the only ones who can do anything about it.

Llewellyn is supported by fellow street neighbours, Leanne and Robert.

“You can’t park on the street because of all the unregistered cars they have. It’s a big horror,” Leanne said.

It’s been 13 years since Llewellyn bought her house, but her quiet life has changed dramatically in the two years since the new neighbors moved in.

And the problem keeps getting worse. “It just grew and grew and grew as they ran out of space…and now there’s only the road left,” he said.

“I just want to move. I feel like a prisoner in my own house. I would like to move and be done with this.

But he thinks the price of his house has dropped because of hoarders.

“With the amount I owe on the property, I cannot sell it for less than it is worth,” he said.

Leanne and Robert think Jess and her family should clean up their property.

“It’s just unhealthy. I mean, I feel sorry for them,” Leanne said.

Jess said the Central Coast Council ordered them to dismantle the car port, but did not ask them to clean anything.

“We spoke to the council members, they come almost every week,” she said.

“Our properties have been like this for the last 10 properties we’ve lived in. We’ve been harassed by advice at every property we’ve stayed at.”

Llewellyn said he literally begged the council to fix the situation. “I actually wrote the words, I’m begging you to do something about it.”

Jess sees things very differently and says, “That’s exactly how we live. Everyone has a different way of living… It’s a business, it’s not junk.

Jess gave some hints as to why this hoarding, saying, “Our family is dysfunctional. We try to get there, we have to put up with each other.

“So yes, the neighbors can support us. Why can’t you just say “Oh, cool. It’s not your house. It’s the neighbors”, and ignore it.

Central Coast Council said nothing it had tried had worked so far and it was now considering options for enforcement.

Meanwhile, Llewellyn tries to get a fence put up so he doesn’t have to look at the mess next door.