What's different in Footscray
Flats and shared walls
Maribyrnong's Housing Strategy 2018 says flats, units and apartments cluster in Footscray, which had the city's highest proportion of apartments in 2011. That changes the job. German cockroaches, mice and bed bugs can travel along pipes and through wall gaps, so treating one flat may simply push them next door.
Possums sit outside council's powers
Maribyrnong City Council says it has no legislative authority over native animals, and sends people to Wildlife Victoria and the state government's living with wildlife page. A possum above a Footscray ceiling comes down to proofing the roof, and that's your call or your landlord's.
Foxes and snakes near the river
Footscray Park connects to the Maribyrnong River Trail, and council calls the red fox an introduced pest that can threaten native animals and create a nuisance. It asks for sightings through FeralScan. A snake on your property goes to a licensed snake catcher, never to a pest business through us.
If you rent, who pays?
Most questions in a block of flats end up here. Consumer Affairs Victoria says the law doesn't always spell it out. A renter may be responsible where their own rubbish drew ants, mice or cockroaches, or a pet went untreated for fleas. A rental provider may be responsible where the pest was there at move in, or a building fault let it through.
Pests tied to the building that make a home unsecure or unsafe to live in count as an urgent repair. If you still can't agree, either side can apply to VCAT for a decision. Our end of lease guide covers what happens when you move out.
Your part, and the pest business's
You can
- Take food waste to the bin room the same day, not at the end of the week.
- Wipe behind the fridge and stove, where German cockroaches like the warmth.
- Fill small gaps around pipes under the sink and in the laundry.
- Ask neighbours and the owners corporation whether anyone else is seeing the same thing.
Leave to a pest business
- Treating several flats in one visit so the insects have nowhere left to retreat.
- Finding where German cockroaches are breeding, usually out of sight.
- Proofing a roof once the possum has gone out for the night.
- Any nest inside a wall cavity.
What we'd do in a Footscray flat
We'd speak to the neighbours and the owners corporation before booking anything, because a block treated together goes much further than one flat alone. Then tap what you've found and your postcode, and start from there.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
