\u201cIt\u2019s everyone,\u201d he said of the growing free-for-all.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve caught rubbish removal trucks, people in their private utes, people hiring vans from Bunnings, even one of those vacuum liquid waste trucks \u2014 we caught two people in one of them. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s building rubbish, household stuff, couches, mattresses, even one pile that looks like it\u2019s full of asbestos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Monsant, an auto-electrician, has lived at the picturesque semirural property surrounded by farms and paddocks for more than a decade \u2014 but the fast-growing region has been transformed by an explosion of housing developments<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n The 500-metre potholed road leading to their home went viral earlier this year after another local filmed a furious video of the metres-high piles of waste and uploaded it to social media.<\/p>\n \u201cThese were just farms when I was a kid, but now it\u2019s a dumping ground,\u201d the man said in video.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we let anybody treat our country like this is f**king shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n The video was removed from Facebook, likely because it contained anti-immigration and racially-charged language.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first moved here 15 years ago we maybe had two or three burnt-out cars,\u201d Mr Monsant told news.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always had people come out and dump rubbish, but it wasn\u2019t regular.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Mr Monsant, the real problems began at the start of this year when Melton City Council stopped clearing rubbish, telling them over the phone it was \u201ca private road and not their responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n Council later \u201cturned around and said it\u2019s crown land\u201d, Mr Monsant claimed, and either way still not its responsibility.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was always the case if someone dumped rubbish we call them up, but this year they\u2019ve just turned around and gone full deniability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since then the rubbish has \u201csnowballed\u201d, Olivia said, turning Mt Atkinson Road into a makeshift tip. <\/p>\n On several occasions the rubbish has completely blocked off the road, forcing them to pay for Bobcats to clear the way just so they can buy groceries.<\/p>\n Last week the couple again pleaded with council to clear the road after a fresh blockage, but claim they were brushed off.<\/p>\n They say not only is it a fire and safety hazard, preventing access for emergency services, but the rubbish has also cut them off from essential services like couriers and Ubers who refuse to come to their house.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are running a business from home and parts are delayed by two to eight weeks because couriers refuse to navigate the debris resulting in weeks of us tracking down parcels and attempting redelivery,\u201d Olivia said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to maintain a vehicle with a tray so we are able to take our household bins to the nearest intersection weekly as the rubbish collection truck cannot access our kerbside. We also have had many issues with Australia Post who only recently began delivering mail to our letterbox.\u201d<\/p>\n The putrid conditions have also begun to attract scavengers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got all sorts of people coming up and down our road now, stripping for metals, taking small engines,\u201d Olivia said.<\/p>\n The couple have taken numerous photos and videos of illegal dumpers.<\/p>\n Mr Monsant does not shy away from saying the culprits appear to be largely migrants.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve caught it on dashcam,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have caught one family doing it, they were very apologetic and picked it up.\u201d<\/p>\n In one recent incident captured on video, a man was caught dumping black bags of rubbish from a white van. <\/p>\n Mr Monsant colourfully narrates in the clip that he warned the man to pick it up \u201cbefore the missus gets here because she\u2019ll tear you a f**kin new a**hole\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLo and behold she\u2019s hear tearing him a f**king new a**hole behind his van,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Olivia told news.com.au she \u201cgave him a good old-fashioned Australian lecture\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI told him about how council works, why are you doing this and do you think it\u2019s OK?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe informed me that he was informed it was OK [by] the people in his community. He\u2019s new here and that\u2019s what they tell him to do. I explained to him this isn\u2019t what we do. I\u2019m educating you, can you please go back to your community [and tell them].\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Monsant said he was not always so charitable with dumpers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been very, very rude to them when I\u2019ve caught them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was one guy in a tip truck, I pulled him out by his shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n But Olivia said as the only residents on the road, the couple had to be wary of their safety.<\/p>\n \u201cWe live out here alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have chased cars out several times. We give [license plates and photos] to the EPA and the council but it just continues to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n In the case of the liquid waste truck, the couple shared clear photo evidence with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) but the men were \u201clet off with a warning\u201d.<\/p>\n An EPA spokesman confirmed that \u201cin 2023 we responded to a community report of liquid waste being dumped in the area, and issued an official warning for the unlawful deposit of between 50 and 1000 litres of waste\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEPA is aware of this issue following pollution reports in August 2026 about illegally dumped waste on Mt Atkinson Road, Truganina,\u201d he said of the recent complaints.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have conducted an initial assessment of the extent of the dumping at the site and spoken with the reporter. <\/p>\n \u201cAs part of the Illegal Waste Dumping Taskforce, EPA will reach out to the local council to commence a joint regulatory intervention. <\/p>\n \u201cEPA is committed to working with councils, as local litter authorities, to hold illegal dumpers accountable and provide advice on longer-term measures to prevent dumping.\u201d<\/p>\n Littering on public land comes with a maximum penalty of $3,951,800 for businesses and $800,000 for individuals or five years imprisonment.<\/p>\n At the start of the road in Truganina, next to a toppled electricity pole, a sign warns dumpers: \u201cStop. Dumping of Rubbish and Unwanted Goods is PROHIBITED.\u201d<\/p>\n It states that fines up to $9087 will be handed out and that the area \u201cmay be under surveillance\u201d.<\/p>\n But no cameras were visible when news.com.au visited in August and the sign is clearly being ignored.<\/p>\n