Duggan Street landowner Mark Hosking says senior council officers have breached the council’s code of conduct and also the Civil Procedures Act by not trying to resolve the dispute over possible buried rubbish on his property quickly.
AN irate Black Hill ratepayer wants a solution to a long-running dispute over possible buried rubbish on his property.
At last night’s Ballarat City Council meeting, Duggan Street landowner Mark Hosking asked why he had yet to receive any answers about a possible overflow on his land from the former Black Hill Landfill.
Mr Hosking was hoping to subdivide his land in 2009 but stopped after fears it could contain buried rubbish after some was found on his neighbour’s property.
The Supreme Court of Victoria ordered excavation works on the adjoining property in June to determine if the rubbish was an overflow from the dump that closed in 1981.
Mr Hosking had a meeting with the council’s chief executive officer Anthony Schinck and growth and development director Eric Braslis nearly six weeks ago requesting to dig a similar trench on his property but said he has yet to receive any reply.
He said the senior council officers had breached not only the council’s code of conduct, but also the Civil Procedures Act by not trying to resolve and determine the dispute quickly.
“I have documentation of all the correspondence in that time (since 2009) and we have contacted council 28 times and received five responses,” Mr Hosking said.
“I have also contacted the Ombudsman because this is starting to get ridiculous.
“It shows no respect where I have to force the issue to discuss it. Negotiation, not litigation, is the way I want to go forward.”
Mr Schinck said he was waiting on a report from the council’s insurers before he could reply.
“I certainly don’t want to disregard our obligations,” Mr Schinck said.
“But this is a substantial claim against our insurers and we need to deal with it properly.
“I have a responsibility to the whole of Ballarat to deal with the matter in the most appropriate way possible. I am equally frustrated on Mr Hosking’s behalf.”
fiona.henderson@thecourier.com.au