HOARDER ORDER
A CORIO man has a month to clean up his filthy property.
Car wrecks, sheets of iron, plastic, timber, towering weeds and other overgrown plants cover Ian Sutherland’s property at 19 Hopkins St, making it a fire risk.
But the hoarder has been ignoring requests and orders from authorities to clean it up for the past six years, saying he’s been too busy.
But yesterday he promised judicial registrar Michael Bolte that he’d get cracking on the clean-up job.
“I won’t even have Christmas dinner, I’ll be working that hard (to clean it up),” he said.
Mr Sutherland’s response bought him a potential reprieve from an $8000 fine threatened by Mr Bolte for failing to comply with a fire prevention notice form the City of Greater Geelong.
“I’ve been dealing with this case since February, and I’ve had enough,” Mr Bolte thundered at the hard-of-hearing landowner in Geelong Magistrates’ Court.
“You’ve had chances and you’ve failed. No more excuses, no more delays … or all I’ll do is make an $8000 fine against you.
“Sort it out. Sort out your affairs. If you get it all done there’s no fine.”
Mr Sutherland said the Christmas and New Year break would give him time to carry out the works demanded by council, thanking Mr Bolte for being “very lenient”.
CoGG’s acting director of city services, Vicki Shelton, said it was “the responsibility of all property owners to keep their property in a safe condition”.
“Unattended properties that become overgrown with grass and littered with debris present a serious fire risk that may impact on the surrounding community,” Ms Shelton said.
“We encourage all residents to check their properties for fire hazards — including excessive vegetation, long, dry or dead grass, combustible or flammable materials and fuel (such as piles of tree branch cuttings).”
CoGG said grass on residential blocks must be kept at or below 10cm during fire season.
“The City’s fire prevention team will continue to undertake property inspections around the whole municipality until the end of the summer fire danger period to ensure all properties are safe,” Ms Shelton said.
“Hoarding is a significant fire risk as the items accumulated may be particularly flammable and may restrict access in and out of the property in an emergency situation.
“As the local council it is our duty to monitor and prevent the risk of fire in the community.”