MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has “had enough of dumped waste in our reserves, foreshore, beaches, streets and parks”, according to the mayor Cr Bryan Payne.
He is calling on residents to report those illegally dumping rubbish so they can be fined up to $9500.
The cost of cleaning up the rubbish is about $700,000 a year – with more than 2300 cases reported in 2017. In the first five months of this year, 1532 cases were reported.
Residents are asked to note the time, date, location and items of waste, as well as any identifying information, such as vehicle registration or signs when reporting dumping.
The shire is patrolling dumping hot-spots, installing mobile CCTV cameras, and erecting fences, gates, rocks and bollards to prevent vehicle access to reserves to catch offenders.
“Illegal dumping poses a serious threat to our wildlife and can lead to contamination of land, waterways and groundwater,” Cr Payne said.
“There’s plenty of ways to do the right thing with a long list of items able to be disposed of for little, or no, cost at our resource recovery centres.
“It’s not hard to do the right thing. Anyone who isn’t able to get to the centre can use a rates voucher to book a kerbside collection.”
Items which can be dropped off for free at resource recovery centres include: household recyclables, steel goods (excluding fridges and air conditioners), bikes, computers, televisions, paint (up to 100 litres), gas cylinders (up to 9kg), motor oil (up to 20 litres), fluorescent globes and tubes and batteries.
For a full list of items that can disposed of for free, visit mornpen.vic.gov.au
To report dumped waste call 1300 850 600 or report it at mornpen.vic.gov.au
First published in the Mornington News – 23 October 2018
