Street and laneway cleaning

Council is responsible for cleaning main roads, residential streets, laneways, and footpaths within shopping centres.

Most street cleaning work is done during the night.

Street sweeping

Mechanical street sweepers regularly sweep main roads and residential streets. Council also uses an extra street sweeper during periods of heavy leaf fall.

Over one year Council sweeps about 45,000 kilometres along main roads and 20,000 kilometres in residential streets. Street sweeping over 1 year collects about 3000 tonnes of rubbish and litter.

Footpath sweeping

A small mechanical sweeper sweeps footpaths in shopping strips every day of the week.

Every day Council sweeps about 22 kilometres of footpaths.

Please note that Council does not sweep residential footpaths for seed and leaf drop from Council trees.

Stormwater pit and drain cleaning

Council cleans around 385 stormwater pits each week.

Each year Council removes about 180 tonnes of rubbish from pits and drains.

Emptying public litter bins

Council empties 750 litter bins in Merri-bek every weekday. Litter bins are serviced 7 days a week.

Laneway maintenance

Council is responsible for maintenance and tidying of constructed laneways, which are made of bitumen, bluestone and concrete, as well as unconstructed laneways, which tend to be gravel or grassed surfaces.

Grass mowing is generally carried out in unconstructed laneways throughout the year to ensure they do not pose a fire hazard, turf/weed growth is suppressed and kept at a safe height for access.

Laneway cleaning is carried out twice a year in Autumn and Spring.  

If you want to request that an unconstructed laneway next to your property be converted into a constructed laneway, see construction of unmade laneways.

Responsibilities of property owners next to a laneway

If your property is next to a laneway, you are responsible for trimming any overhanging branches in the laneway to a clearance height of 3 metres and any other shrubs or vegetation back to your property line.

You need to make sure your fence is properly maintained so it does not block access through the laneway.

Do not store items in public laneways, as these lanes are used for public access, including street sweepers.