Rubbish battle

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Rubbish battle

COUNCILS are cracking down on illegal rubbish dumping in the wake of a spike in incidents over the Christmas-New Year period.

South Gippsland Shire Council officers will install more surveillance cameras to increase the likelihood of catching offenders and have called on the public to report litterers.

Public bins have been overflowing with household rubbish as holiday-makers and locals try to avoid tip fees.

Venus Bay has been a hotspot, despite council offering the community an optional kerbside collection service this summer.

Matthew Patterson, South Gippsland council’s manager of regulatory services, said offenders face hefty punishment.

“If someone is caught dumping rubbish in a council bin or kerbside bin, there is an on the spot fine of $295,” he said.

“Depending on the severity of it, we can look at prosecuting as well.”

Illegal dumping is of particular concern at Venus Bay, especially on Monday mornings when visitors are returning home.

Council offered property-owners the option of a six or 12 month kerbside garbage collection service. The six month option spans from November to April, and was taken up by 27 property-owners.

The 12 month service was booked by 173 property-owners, but the majority of Venus Bay residents and holiday-makers opted not to take up a collection service, preferring to take their rubbish to the transfer station in town or dispose via other means.

Council’s sustainability manager Geoff McKinnon said existing public bins in Venus Bay were adequate to serve the increased holiday population but were “they are just not being used appropriately”.

“It is a lot better than it used to be though because we had bins in Venus Bay that were overflowing,” he said.

“We have fined a couple of people a couple of years ago and word has got out, so that has helped as well.”

Roadside dumping continues to cause council grief.

“Council has done a lot of prosecution so hopefully the message is getting out there that people can find themselves in court,” Mr Patterson said.

South Gippsland council local laws officers have been monitoring dumping hotspots such as beaches while travelling the municipality, following up on fire prevention notices issued late last year.

Those notices direct property-owners to tidy properties by removing fire fuel or slashing grass to reduce fire risk.

But authorities’ increased presence does not necessarily stop people from littering.

“People tend to dump rubbish in early morning and at night when local laws officers are not about,” Mr Patterson said.

South Gippsland council will install surveillance cameras at dumping hotspots and also in secluded areas in a bid to catch offenders in the act.

“If people see anyone dumping household rubbish into a council bin, they can give us the registration number of the vehicle involved, and we can look into it and issue an infringement notice,” Mr Patterson said.

Illegal dumping costs Bass Coast Shire ratepayers at least $40,000 each year in clean-up and disposal costs, with 15 to 25 incidents of illegally dumped waste being reported to council each month.

Council’s acting general manager sustainable development and growth, Jodi Kennedy, said roadside rest stops, rural roads and foreshore reserves were common places to dump waste.

“Often the dumping is completely unnecessary. For example, council data shows there were at least five incidents of illegal dumping involving green waste during the fee-free green waste disposal period in November and December,” she said.

“The council has started using motion-activated surveillance cameras to monitor illegal dumping hot spots on Phillip Island and in various locations around the shire, Wonthaggi, Harmers Haven, Cape Paterson, Inverloch and Grantville.”

Council also issues $295 fines and serious offences taken to court can attract a fine of more than $8000.

Recent illegal dumping penalties issued in Bass Coast Shire include:

  • a Melbourne-based ratepayer who abandoned furniture at a storage facility in Inverloch was spared enforcement action after reimbursing council for the disposal costs;
  • a man from Maidstone was fined $295 for dumping a large bag of waste next to a street litter bin at a busy roadside rest stop area instead of taking it to the nearest waste facility, less than five kilometres away;
  • a man from Coronet Bay was fined $295 for dumping large hard waste items in Pioneer Bay;
  • a local maintenance business was fined $295 for dumping several ute-loads of tree cuttings on the foreshore at Coronet Bay. The business operator was ordered to remove the waste; and
  • a man and a woman from Wonthaggi were fined $295 each for failing to respond to a notice that required them to provide information about how their personal items came to be found on a roadside in Harmers Haven. They were also fined an additional $295 each for the actual littering offence. Council removed the waste for a total cost of $250, including $100 for disposal costs plus $150 of labour and fuel.

To report people dumping rubbish illegally, contact South Gippsland Shire Council on 5662 9200 or Bass Coast Shire Council on 5671 2211.

Not on: South Gippsland Shire Council’s local laws officer Clare O’Callaghan is urging people not to dump household rubbish in public bins such as those at Leongatha’s McIndoe Park.

Not on: South Gippsland Shire Council’s local laws officer Clare O’Callaghan is urging people not to dump household rubbish in public bins such as those at Leongatha’s McIndoe Park.

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Posted by on Jan 13 2015. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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