A DISGRUNTLED resident has taken matters into their own hands after allegedly not having their bins emptied for over two weeks.
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The anonymous offender dumped a stinking bag of rubbish outside the council building sometime over the weekend of January 2-3, 2016, with a handwritten note on a piece of cardboard.
“We pay rates,” the sign read.
“16 days with no garbage collection! Not good enough!”
Photos of the illegally dumped rubbish popped up on social media, including a popular post on the public Facebook group Cootamundra Remembers.
Some locals who commented said they too had gone without waste collection, with some suggesting council should have done a letterbox drop to make people aware of the changed dates.
Other comments condemned the illegal dumping.
“Dumping your garbage for someone else to deal with... What an immature response to a problem,” one person commented.
“It's not the poor administration staffs fault... or the cleaner who now has to deal with that. I understand their reasoning just not their actions,” another person commented.
Cootamundra Shire Council acting director of engineering services Mark Ellis has condemned the illegal dumping, warning the perpetrator could face a hefty fine if identified.
Mr Ellis denies any major disruption to garbage collection over the Christmas period.
He explained it is standard practice for council to change collection dates to accommodate for public holidays, and said any changes are always well-publicised.
“No-one should have been two weeks without domestic waste collection,” Mr Ellis said.
“Any changed collection dates were thoroughly advertised in the Herald, on the shire website and on community notice boards.”
The amended dates were advertised in the Cootamundra Herald classifieds on Wednesday December 16 and Friday December 18, as well as in the Friday December 18 Cootamundra Shire Council Snippets on page 5.
They still appear on the front page of the council website.
Rubbish that was supposed to be collected on Christmas Day was moved forward a day, to Thursday December 24.
Rubbish that was supposed to be collected on New Year’s Day was moved backward three days, to Monday January 4.
For those who have their waste collected on a Friday, it is possible they would have gone over two weeks without collection if they were unaware of the changes.
Mr Ellis said rubbish may have been collected earlier or later than usual on the changed dates due to the need to schedule double runs.
He also confirmed one garbage truck blew an oil hose on Tuesday December 29, causing a delay of several hours.