Couches, mattresses and other bits of old furniture have been strewn along roadsides, causing headaches for Maroondah Council and residents.

To avoid tip fees, people have left unwanted goods on public streets, leaving it to the council to remove the rubbish.

Cr Les Willmott said the council was becoming increasingly frustrated by the amount of rubbish left throughout the area.

He said dumping waste must stop.

"The council conducts a twice yearly, free hard rubbish collection to assist residents with the removal of large items of rubbish, but outside these two collection times, it is up to residents to make arrangements to dispose of their rubbish themselves.

"They can do this in a number of ways - by hiring a skip, using a private rubbish collection company, or simply take the rubbish to one of the recycling and waste centres that operate close to Maroondah."

Maroondah Ratepayers Group treasurer Carol Hunter said rubbish removal was an ongoing issue in Maroondah.

"I have noticed this quite a lot and the council is quite right.

"It is not acceptable to leave rubbish lying around on your nature strips.

"It does not keep the area looking clean and neat when hard waste is left out for months at a time."

She said there were a number of reasons why residents would leave hard waste.

"One issue could be the distance to a rubbish tip.

"I think people have to travel as far as Lysterfield to get to a tip, some people can't afford to hire a skip or trailer to remove the waste and I suspect laziness is probably a major issue."

Ms Hunter said it could pay for the council to seek advice from residents.

"Why don't they include a questionnaire about waste collection in the next ratepayers' notice?"

What do you think? Write to PO Box 4305, Wantirna South 3152.