Homeowner’s fake plastic grass wears out its welcome with council in Melbourne’s west

Maribyrnong city council has requested Fadhullah Yusof replace his synthetic grass with ‘natural lawn and planting as approved by the landscape plan’. Photograph: Yuriy Chertok/Alamy

A homeowner in Melbourne’s west is fighting a council order to replace his property’s synthetic grass with a natural lawn, saying he has a “busy lifestyle” and wants a “low maintenance” front yard.

Maribyrnong city council in February ordered Fadhullah Yusof, a West Footscray resident, to rip up the artificial grass in his front yard and replace it with real lawn, saying it was a breach of the site’s planning permit.