A MOUNT Martha man has been ordered to pay $6,271.67 for illegally dumping waste in Tuerong. Had he disposed of these items correctly it wouldn’t have cost him a cent.
Last year, one of the shire’s litter prevention officers visited a property in Mount Martha that had a large amount of waste out the front. The officer advised the occupant to book a hard waste collection and bring the items back onto their property in the meantime. Before leaving, the officer taped the items, which included two washing machines and a tumble drier, with shire’s signature yellow and black tape.
A couple of weeks later, the same officer was on patrol in Tuerong when he had a “deja vu” moment. There, along Tuerong Road, were the same items still wrapped in shire tape. In the following weeks, the same offender was identified by covert CCTV dumping waste in Moorooduc.
The Mount Martha man was summonsed to appear the Dromana Magistrates Court in January on four charges relating to the breaches of the Environmental Protection Act 2017 (Vic) and the unlawful deposit of waste. The Magistrate found the man guilty with conviction and he was fined an aggregate of $1,500, on all charges, and ordered to pay costs of $4,771.67.
“Each year, the Shire spends approximately $600,000 removing dumped waste – ratepayer money that could have been spent on community infrastructure or other worthy initiatives,” said Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Anthony Marsh. “Residents, including renters, get four tip tickets each year. These can be used to book a hard waste collection from your nature strip. “Most of the waste the offender dumped was recyclable and would have been free to dispose of at any of our resource recovery centres. The non-recyclable material would have fit in his general rubbish bin, had he chosen the legal and responsible option.”
Numerous household items are free to dispose of at shire resource recovery centres – probably more than you think. Check the full list at mornpen.vic.gov.au/recycling.
If you witness or have any information of unlawful waste dumping activity on the peninsula, please report it online at: mornpen.vic.gov.au/dobinadumper or use the Snap Send Solve app.
First published in the Mornington News – 13 May 2025
