Should Picking up Tree Leaves Be Included in Local Council Rates?

wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:05
Last edited 07/05/2023 - 11:54 by 1 other user

Unsure who is responsible for picking up the leaves fall off the trees along the roads grown and maintained by my local council but it appears that every year they just flow into the sewers or piled up on the roads. The amount is not negligible which parts or some sections of road are fully covered up.

If it is not local council’s responsibility then who?

See photos in the link below to see the amount of leaves if you cannot imagine how much is it.

https://www.lakenormanpublications.com/articles/piles-of-inf…

Home & Garden

Comments

  • pegaxs on 06/05/2023 - 12:08
    +6

    They're leaves… biodegradable. It would cost councils more to pick them up and dispose of them than what it would be worth to just let nature do it's thing. Things like leaves dont pose much of an issue to storm water/sewer systems. They rip and tear pretty easy… unlike "flushable" wipes…

    Now, when trees start dropping plastic leaves, let us know.

    • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:10

      Really? Those tree leaves from a or years ago are still in my backyard.

      • AndyC1 on 06/05/2023 - 12:12
        +6

        So you want leaves in your yard removed by the council?

        • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:14
          -2

          I pick up most of them myself every week in autumn. But there is still plenty on the roads to wait to be blown to other houses and be picked up for free on behalf of the council.

          • deme on 06/05/2023 - 12:16
            +2

            @wtfnodeal: This has to be a troll from a person with such questions as Can Children under 16 Practise Real Life GTA without Consequences?

            • AndyC1 on 06/05/2023 - 13:47
              +1

              @deme: Looks like you responded at the wrong level as I am not a troll like OP may be.

            • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:40

              @deme: So what is your answer to that question? My 70 years old mother suffered injuries in the process of being robbed and the 15 years old juvenile was let go without any consequences.

                • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:55

                  @deme: Arrested doesn’t mean there are consequences. Have you found out whether there is jail time? Or they were just let go with a warning or community service?

                  • deme on 07/05/2023 - 10:55

                    @wtfnodeal:

                    Can Children under 16 Practise Real Life GTA without Consequences?

                    https://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/find-legal-answers/young-peop…

                    The age of criminal responsibility in WA is 10 years old. This means if you are 10 or older, and you commit a criminal offence, you can be charged by the police and convicted in court.

                    Between the ages of 10 and 14 years old, the police must prove in court that you understood you were doing the wrong thing.

                    If you are over 14 years old, the law says you can be held responsible for your actions, even if you didn't actually know that you were doing the wrong thing or were breaking the law.

                    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:59

                      @deme: Doesn’t matter what the laws say. Eventually the courts decide whether to let the offenders walk or not. If you want to believe laws = justice that is up to you. If you have time to kill why not look into the other discussion topic I made re whether there is justice before the courts?

                      • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:03

                        @wtfnodeal: Maybe it's not obvious enough to you:

                        Can Children under 16 Practise Real Life GTA without Consequences?

                        No

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:50

      By the way, the storm water/sewers are blocked out by the leaves every year in autumn season and there are water puddles and some parts of the road are flooded.

    • HeWhoKnows on 07/05/2023 - 13:51
      +2

      The council is 100% responsible and takes ownership for trees in the street and related issues
      And for that matter the streets, gutters and footpaths
      If you have a problem just call up council and ask them to rmove them

      • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 15:56

        They couldn’t care less unless we all sign up a petition. I previously wrote a complaint that the council grown plants needed be trimmed as they were blocking the view exiting from a car park to a road bend and nothing gets done yet.

  • deme on 06/05/2023 - 12:13

    Come on, while I agree my Do Vaccines Cause Autism Topic was dumb this beats it

    • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:19
      +1

      Yeah much like some idiots waste time to make comments on something don’t concern them.

      • deme on 06/05/2023 - 12:21
        +4

        Mate you asked Road Safety Is Whose Responsibility

        • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:23
          -6

          Have you graduated from kindy or primary school? If not sorry this topic or any my other discussions are beyond your comprehension.

          • deme on 06/05/2023 - 12:24
            +2

            @wtfnodeal: This topic:

            Unsure who is responsible for picking up the leaves fall off the trees

            Previous topic:

            Unsure road safety if the sole responsibility of motorists or joint responsibility

            • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:48

              @deme: And what constructive comment do you have other than those stupid comments?

              • deme on 07/05/2023 - 10:49
                +1

                @wtfnodeal: Unsure who is responsible for stupid comments?

                • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:03

                  @deme: Not sure either but I have seen some stupid comments such as telling OP to do a charge back instead of waiting for a refund by assuming the OP had not thought of that and the original payment was credit card or some sort could allow the OP to do so before having the problem discussed here. There are a lot of smart ass here love to imagine they are in the same situation and believe only they have the answers.

                  • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:06

                    @wtfnodeal:

                    telling OP to do a charge back instead of waiting for a refund by assuming the OP had not thought of that and the original payment was credit card or some sort could allow the OP to do so

                    OP's update:

                    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/772917

                    In summary, single email with keyword chargeback works more efficient than 20ish emails, 1 hour online chat plus 3 phone calls with Amazon and 30ish unreachable phone attempts to their delivery agent codexpress

                    If I were you I'd read the entire thread before trying to make fun of others.

                    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:14

                      @deme: Good that you have contributed to resolve OP’s problem for once. That update was made after I read your comment which you assumed the OP was entitled to do a charge back without asking OP first. I believe you always make assumptions then quickly make comments before making enquiries to understand the entire situations? Just like you know not much about Elon Musk but have decided to make a topic to discuss about him?

                      • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:16

                        @wtfnodeal: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/13717371/redir
                        12 min ago

                        That update was made after I read your comment

                        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/772917
                        Last edited 3 hours 17 min ago

                        The update was made over 3 hours before you posted your comment

                        If I were you I'd read the entire thread before trying to make fun of others.

                        • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:17

                          @deme: LOL I looked up some of your comments yesterday but was too busy to reply your comments in this post until today.

                          • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:18

                            @wtfnodeal: Was I living rent free in your head overnight?

                            • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:21

                              @deme: Nah just based on some of your non constructive comments I hate to believe people like you actually exist. Your parents must have done you wrong. You have my sympathy.

                              • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:23

                                @wtfnodeal:

                                Your parents must have done you wrong.

                                This you

                                I believe you always make assumptions then quickly make comments before making enquiries to understand the entire situations?

                                • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:48

                                  @deme: “Come on, while I agree my Do Vaccines Cause Autism Topic was dumb this beats it”
                                  Have you not proven who you are?

                                  • deme on 07/05/2023 - 11:52

                                    @wtfnodeal:

                                    Have you not proven who you are?

                                    Are you agreeing this topic was dumber than Do Vaccines Cause Autism?

                                    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 11:56

                                      @deme: Sorry I don’t mean to be rude but I can’t waste more time to reply to your comments. Feel free to land similar comments on any discussion topics you wish if you think you are smart enough or know enough to do so. Good luck.

        • Mr Haj on 06/05/2023 - 15:19

          Did he ask? It looks more like a statement.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 06/05/2023 - 12:17

    Could be worse you could have leopard trees in front planted by council and be drowning in seed pods and leaves every year :)

    • miwahni on 06/05/2023 - 23:49

      And when they're not dropping seed pods or leaves, they're dropping tiny little sticks. Either way they're a year-round job. I have one in my back yard so it's not a problem but my son has two on the footpath, thanks to the local council.

    • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:39
      -3

      I don’t have a garden. My backyard is all paved with bricks and cement. Even if I have a garden I don’t think it is a good idea to let the leaves pile up on the roads (yes right in the middle of the roads).

      • deme on 06/05/2023 - 18:33
        +1

        My backyard is all paved with bricks and cement.

        What the

  • iamherenow on 06/05/2023 - 12:40
    +5

    If it is not local council’s responsibility then who?

    We get a street sweeper about every week come down the road.

    • wtfnodeal on 06/05/2023 - 12:42

      Does it cost you extra on top of the council rates?

      • iamherenow on 06/05/2023 - 12:42
        +1

        no

      • AndyC1 on 06/05/2023 - 13:49
        +3

        Troll response… Who pays for the street sweeper? Who finances the "place" that pays for the street sweeper?

        • DoctorCalculon on 06/05/2023 - 23:32
          +1

          Who pays to manufacture the street sweeping vehicles?
          Who imports the street sweeping vehicles into the country?

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 06/05/2023 - 14:35

      We get a street sweeper about every week come down the road.

      Same, same.

    • FujiFruit on 06/05/2023 - 18:25
      +1

      same

    • original15 on 06/05/2023 - 21:00
      +1

      Every week, the dream. Reckon ours is once a month.
      I’ve got a huge tree that’s leaving leaves all over our court, I try to pick as many up that fit in my 2x garden bins but it is futile. Tree is massive

      • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 21:27

        Exactly why I only pick up the leaves in my backyard once a week as the green bin is already full after doing so and the council only collects household waste in the green bin once a week.

        • original15 on 07/05/2023 - 22:42

          Yeh after we moved here I quickly figured one bin wasn’t gunna cut it, reckon there’s only been 5 fortnights in 1.5 years I haven’t stuck two bins out so been worth the cost.

          But yeh fill as many leaves as I can and then jump in the bin as if I’m making wine, then fill and repeat
          Looking into leaf shredder as an option

  • parsimonious one on 06/05/2023 - 12:43
    +3

    I don’t understand what the issue is

    1) the council manages the road, sewer and stormwater, they are dealing with the leaves on the road the way they deem most appropriate (including a street sweeper periodically to clear debris)

    2) leaves on your property are your problem

  • JIMB0 on 06/05/2023 - 12:44
    +2

    While they're at it they can get the same guy to mow the nature strips as well. I'm sure you won't mind the huge increase on your rates notice.

  • AngoraFish on 06/05/2023 - 13:06
    +1

    I think I'll leave my council rates where they are, thanks. The leaves can look after themselves.

  • Leanne59 on 06/05/2023 - 13:12

    We have a street sweeper in our area every few weeks or so.

  • Euphemistic on 06/05/2023 - 13:22
    +3

    If it’s a drainage problem the council is responsible to fix it. Otherwise tree leaves are natural and aren’t part of any maintenance program.

    Maybe they should send council arborists to pluck the trees of leaves that are about to fall off?

    Not sure where some people get the idea that we aren’t living in an ecosystem and that everything should be concreted and swept 24/7.

  • KaTst3R on 06/05/2023 - 13:24
    +2

    wait till OP realises council trees that overhang on his/her/their/it side of the fence is also OPs responsibility.

  • djones145 on 06/05/2023 - 13:49
    +1

    local council can do everything!
    wash your cars
    clean your house
    walk the dog
    cook dinner
    wash the dishes

    your rates will be 10k a month though….

    • vinni9284 on 06/05/2023 - 13:52

      The councils do offer packages for elderly that are eligible. Not sure about the dog and car though.
      Btw I have no love for councils but they did assist with my mother so can't be that negative
      https://www.viccouncils.asn.au/what-councils-do/council-serv…

    • GordonD on 06/05/2023 - 16:15
      +2

      wash your cars, clean your house, walk the dog, cook dinner, wash the dishes

      NDIS does all that. That's why its $14 billion a year over budget

  • GordonD on 06/05/2023 - 16:13

    Solve the leaf problem the way my local council does. By cutting down all the trees.

  • miwahni on 06/05/2023 - 23:55
    +2

    Regardless of responsibility, if you want to keep your property - and the nature strip in front - looking nice then it's going to be up to you to do something about the leaves.

    I had two tulip trees on my nature strip, thanks to council. They are really pretty trees but so messy - cockies and galahs would descend upon them and rip off the flowers, dropping them onto my driveway. One day a large branch fell onto my drive so I rang council to come and move it. They weren't keen but I pointed out that firstly it was too big for me to shift, and secondly it was sheer luck that it didn't damage any property or hit a person on its way down. Not only did they then remove the branch but they dug out and removed both trees.

    I replaced the trees with grevilleas which attract birds and are nowhere near as messy.

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:12

      It is not just about looking nice or not, the amount of leaves left on the road is enough to block the rain from flowing into the sewers that every time it rains the some roads are partly flooded or have water puddles everywhere. Definitely not fun for both motorists and pedestrians.

  • tabitha731 on 07/05/2023 - 07:50

    You have a ridiculously high expectation of your council from the measly council rates you pay… do u think that council rates extend to something as trivial as leaves from the street? There are other essential high priority things to focus on in your council area.

    If the leaves worry you so much.. do it yourself for your front area.

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:20

      It is not just about looking nice or not, the amount of leaves left on the road is enough to block the rain from flowing into the sewers that every time it rains the some roads are partly flooded or have water puddles everywhere. Definitely not fun for both motorists and pedestrians.
      Which is their high priority? Mowing the lawn in the park every alternate week? I would rather they spend time to pick up the leaves so they don’t block the drainage holes and cause flooding or build up water puddles.

  • Myone888 on 07/05/2023 - 07:56
    +1

    Actually councils are very unfair. The nature strip along with giant trees shud be their responsibility! They shud clear the leaves and maintain this area including liability if their trees fall on our property. I had to invest a few hundred $ in lawn mover, whipper sniper etc just to maintain for them and my labor too.
    Imagine a lot of land subdivided with 5 units each paying $2k a year.! The “tax” collected is immense especially when they pay their ceo $700k-900k/ yr along with high paid employees who doesn’t do much! This is atrocious.

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:23

      The mayor in my local council asked for $1m salary a year and it was published and criticised on the local community newspapers.

  • 2esc on 07/05/2023 - 10:12

    Future roadside tree choices hopefully will reduce this problem stupid to expect council to pick them up. Do we get value for money now?

    These sort of ideas are exactly why we dont spend enough on roads hair brained ideas and people pushing councils to take on roles other than roads, rubbish, footpaths, libraries, pools etc my local coucil proudly bragged recently that it now provides 177 different services.

    Some of these services the department of health, housing etc use to look after years ago yes some other
    Funding apart from rates is provided but councils focus is now split

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 10:17

      The amount of leaves on the roads is sufficient to block the rain from flowing into the sewers and some roads are partly flooded or have water puddles. Have you tried walk on footpaths in the rain and have to also avoid the cars splashing water in the puddles to you?

  • Grunntt on 07/05/2023 - 12:27

    The amount of leaves on the roads is sufficient to block the rain from flowing into the sewers and some roads are partly flooded or have water puddles.

    See photos in the link below to see the amount of leaves if you cannot imagine how much is it.

    https://www.lakenormanpublications.com/articles/piles-of-inf…

    If this is not a troll post, and you consider this such a problem, why would you post a link to a USA site rather than your own photos to illustrate the actual problem?

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 15:49

      Because it is not quite the time of the year yet. At the end of autumn then the roads will look exactly like those in the photos. You are welcome to stay tuned and wait for the update.

    • wtfnodeal on 07/05/2023 - 21:12

      Ok I have had a look at the survey plan on our block which also for some reason contains some blocks of our neighbour too. Based on the plan we all have similar size and frontage of about 15m. There is a full grown tree like the ones in the linked photos for each block and some lucky blocks (corner blocks or those separated by footpaths) get 2 trees which is 1 side each. Unless you think the photos in the link have been photoshopped, based on the photos that the trees are separated by each driveway so I don’t think the amount of leaves fall from the trees in my area is going to be less than those in the photos unless the wind blows them away to the backyards of those houses before the rain falls otherwise the photos accurately represent the amount of leaves that I will see at the end of this autumn.

      • Grunntt on 08/05/2023 - 09:00

        There is a full grown tree like the ones in the linked photos

        From your link -

        Those same sites explain that one mature oak tree – a specimen common in the area

        Which suburb in Australia has fully mature oak trees?
        Are you confusing something like a liquidamber with a fully grown oak?

        Two totally different types of tree with different 'leaf shedding' rates.

        By the way - as can be seen under the photo on that site those leaves may have been placed there for collection - not just accumulated by falling there.

        Whether blown, raked or collected and dumped by mowers, tons of loose leaves – some piled nearly mailbox-high – end up at the curb for pick-up in Mooresville and Cornelius, while Davidson and Huntersville, at least for now, require bagging.

        Not disagreeing that you see it as a problem but using an irrelevant foreign example is not the best way to support your claim.

        • wtfnodeal on 08/05/2023 - 16:09

          https://www.progardentips.com/maple-trees-in-australia/
          Maple trees but unsure which exact type and they don’t turn red instead they turn brown shortly before they fall. How do I upload a photo?

          • Grunntt on 08/05/2023 - 19:09

            @wtfnodeal:

            How do I upload a photo?

            The simplest way is to upload to something like https://imgur.com and then just post a link.

            • wtfnodeal on 08/05/2023 - 20:06

              @Grunntt: Ah forget it. I am not here to claim that I am entitled to anything anyway but hope to find out whether the council should be picking up the leaves or we should live with blocked sewers and flooded roads as part of the natural disasters in autumn and winter seasons. Also hope that they could at least collect household waste more than once a week if they expect us to pick up the leaves and put them into the bins.

  • lainey13 on 07/05/2023 - 22:42

    Eh? Might just be your council. Other councils certainly do send in a sweeper in autumn to clear out streets with this exact problem every year… and no, it's not extra, is included in the rates. Whether the rates are more or less than other councils that don't do this is too complicated for me to say.

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