A farm worker faces fines of nearly $12,000 for filling in a gaping hole left outside his home by a fallen gum tree.
Adam Marsal spent ‘thousands’ on new soil, turf and native plants to fix a hole in the nature strip outside his home in Frankston, south-east of Melbourne.
Mr Marsal said he filled in the hole, which was about 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep, when it had been untouched for six months despite his claim he reported it to the council and highways authority.
But he said his actions soon led to him being questioned by Frankston City Council and fined $11,500 for “illegally dumping rubbish on the side of the road”.
Mr Marsal said he was treated like a “criminal” over the incident, which he said posed a serious risk to the safety of people in the area.
“I cleaned all that up and, yeah… I got fined and given a notice to put it back the way it was,” Marsal said. A current issue.
Video footage aired on the programme showed Mr Marsal being questioned about why he took it upon himself to clean up the site.
Adam Marsal has been treated like a “criminal” for fixing a hole in the nature strip outside his home in Frankston, outside Melbourne.
“It used to be a fucking abandoned place full of shit,” he is heard telling the investigator.
‘You left a 4-meter hole in the ground so I cleaned it up.’
Afterwards, he said he was surprised by what seemed like a hostile exchange because he thought he was going to have a “proper conversation” and mediate the matter.
But the council responded by saying it should have taken the matter to a councillor or MP rather than taking matters into its own hands.
“I find it very strange that someone would decide to fill a hole with illegal material that has potentially detrimental effects on the community,” Frankston Mayor Nathan Conroy said of the incident.
“We cannot allow 60,000 or 70,000 people to fill in holes on land that is not theirs.”
Mr Marsal has been ordered to excavate the soil and return the site to its “derelict” state and has been served with two infringement notices.
Frankston City Council said it takes a “zero tolerance approach to illegal dumping and the detrimental effects it can have on the environment and community”.
“The council quickly investigated the matter after it was reported by a concerned resident,” a council spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The Council has no record of having been contacted regarding a hole at the site in question.
‘Interviews are conducted in accordance with all relevant legislative guidelines and requirements.
“As this is an ongoing compliance matter, the Council will not comment further.”
The council ordered Mr. Marsal to dig up the soil and sod he laid and issued him two separate tickets totaling $11,500.