Contact Council
t (03) 9205 5555
e info@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Home Page > Publications > Media releases :
In this section:
2009 Grants
40 kph Limit
40 kph
Aboriginal cultural history
Across
Active Transport
Affordable Housing
Alcohol consumption
Alphington Park
Amcor
amcor2
amcor3
Art Auction
BigTick
Bike Expenditure
Blessing of th Bikes
Budget09
Burnley Street
Bushfires
Businesses
Christmass_Tree
CLC Expansion
CLC
Clean up Day
Clearways
Collingwood Car Park
Commercial fitness
Community Gardens Committee
Community Gardens
Composting
Crime prevention
CTH Precinct
Customer Guarantees
DAMP
Dimmeys
Dimmeys2
Dimmeys3
Diversity
Earth Hour
Energy Saver
Enviroment Day celebration
Enviroment Day
Epworth Go Ahead
Epworth VCAT
Epworth
Felix Hua
FFC Grandstand
Fitzroy Town Hall Precinct
Freeze on late night liquor licences
Fruit Shop Fined
Gallery Guide
Grants
Heat
Heatwave
Holden Street
Housing Forum
index
JaquesVCAT
Late-night venues
Leisure Redevelopment
Lighting trial
Litter
Local Law 8
Main Yarra Trail
Merri Creek
Missing teen
Municipal Public Health Plan
Neighbourhood Houses
New Park
North Fitzroy Library
Our Town
PARKing
Peel Street
Pitt Bull
Pool Closed
Remembrance day
Richmond redevelopment
Ride to work
Road Space
Room to create
Rooming House
Solar Kids
Support for pet owners
Swine flu precautions
Swine Flu
Thumb
Tobacco crackdown
Tobacco Retailers
Tree Day
Tree Planting
Vale Denise Lovett
Victoria Gardens
Victoria Park Open
Victoria Street Structure Plan
Visit_Gurtrude
Volunteers
Watch around Water
White Ribbon
Yarra gains jobs
Yarras Enviroment
Media Release
5 August 2009
Richmond fruit and vegetable shop fined $10,000
Yarra City Council has successfully prosecuted the proprietor of a Richmond fruit and vegetable shop which had been infested with rodents, and was in a filthy condition, with rotten fruit on the floor and a build-up of rubbish inside and outside the building.
Belinda Lac, the proprietor of Richmond Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market, was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay Council $2000 in costs, after pleading guilty to 13 charges under the Food Act in a hearing before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 3 August 2009.
Mayor Cr Amanda Stone said Council’s Public Health Officers had discovered unacceptable conditions in the Victoria Street shop during a routine inspection in July 2008.
“Rodent droppings were littered throughout the premises, and there were even parrots being kept within a cage inside the shop,” Cr Stone said.
“The hand basin where staff would be expected to wash their hands regularly was not connected properly to the water supply and, in any case, was hard to get to because of the accumulation of rubbish around it.”
Cr Stone said Council officers had served legal notice on Ms Lac to clean up the shop, and progress was made, with a pest control company assisting in ensuring the shop substantially complied with the Food Act later in 2008.
However, in a follow up inspection in January 2009, Council officers found evidence of rats, mice and flies within the shop, discovered rotten fruit kept inside the premises, and witnessed staff using a dirty knife and chopping board to cut fruit.
“We take no joy in having undertaken this prosecution, but it does demonstrate that we are serious about making sure food is prepared safely in Yarra food premises,” Cr Stone said.
“It is so important that we stamp out any unhygienic practices or conditions, because just one dirty food premises can seriously affect the health of so many people,” she said.
Cr Stone encouraged Yarra residents with concerns about any local food premises to contact Council’s Public Health Unit on 9205 5166.
Further information
For media enquiries about this issue, please contact:
Ainslie Gowan
Coordinator Communications and Public Relations
Richmond Town Hall
333 Bridge Road Richmond
Telephone 9205 5177, 0400 933 700
Email ainslie.gowan@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Links
Within this site
Yarra City Council
External sites (Yarra City Council accepts no responsibility for the information or opinions contained within external sites)
Victoria Online
| Text
size