A DUBBO woman whose rubbish bin was stolen for the second time in six months was "fed up" with Dubbo as a place to live.
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Liana Leigo and her family moved from Brewarrina to Dubbo in September last year, and in that time have had two rubbish bins and a recycling bin stolen from their Dunedoo Road property.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, unknown persons stole the family's rubbish bin for the second time, and even tipped their entire week's rubbish onto the ground in front of their home.
Mrs Leigo explained that she called Dubbo City Council the first time it happened, who told her she needed to pay for a brand new rubbish bin.
"Council provided a recycling bin free of charge but told me and my husband we had to pay $99 for a new rubbish bin," she said.
"When we moved to Dubbo we bought a brand new rubbish bin. After that was stolen, we paid for another one. And then it happens again and we can't understand why."
She said the first rubbish bin did not have a lid and it was still stolen. This time, the family's second recycling bin remained untouched.
The Leigo family, who live about 300 metres from where the bins are kept, were upset when it happened again, but were even more so when they had a "stinking mess" to clean up in the morning.
"Our children (four and seven) were very upset and wondered why Dubbo had people who were so mean to us.
"Our son asked if they took other people's bins and empty rubbish everywhere on their properties too... I couldn't answer that question.
"But I do know that two bins in the space of six months is too much for us to handle."
After living at Brewarrina for five years, the family moved to Dubbo to give the children more opportunity. But after more than a year of living at Dubbo, Mrs Leigo has considered going back to Brewarrina because of a better "sense of community".
"We've talked about taking our rubbish 30 kilometres to Ballimore every week, and dump it in the tip ourselves. It saves buying new bins... the fact that we've spent almost $300 on new bins is ridiculous. Why would they target us?" she said.
Council project engineer Stephen Howlett said complaints of bin theft were rare in Dubbo.
“Council can offer some assistance by allowing victims to instead take their weekly garbage to the Whylandra Waste and Recyling Centre themselves at no extra charge,” he said.
“Other things people can do is to prominently mark or engrave their bins. If a bin is damaged in the process of being handled by council, it will offer to repair the bin or, if beyond repair, replace it.”
He said the mobile garbage bin was owned by the property owner or occupant and council’s waste charge reflected this in the price by not incorporating a bin replacement component.
Residents who wish to take their weekly garbage to the dump must send an application to council customer services.