Gympie council wants to start fining illegal dumpers itself

With six investigations into illegal dumping in the past month alone, the Gympie council no longer wants to rely on the State Government to find and punish perpetrators. It wants to go after them itself.

Illegal dumpers could soon find themselves in Gympie Regional Council’s crosshairs amid concerns about how often waste was being left strewn across the region.

Councillors are considering allowing staff to fine people caught dumping rubbish in public spaces in the wake of several high profile incidents.

These included a full kitchen, including sink, being dumped near Rainbow Beach and waste being tossed out at the city’s cemetery.

Under the existing system all illegal dumping cases are referred to the State Government to handle.

Compliance manager Dan Rogers said on Wednesday there had been six investigations undertaken into illegal dumping in the past month alone.

Gympie regional council is exploring whether to allow officers to issue fines and compliance notices in an effort to combat illegal dumping.

This was on the back of 38 such State Government investigations in 2021-22, a figure which did not include reports of dumping made to the council’s hotline.

This left the full scope of the problem murky.

“Currently we’re unsure (as to the exact scale of dumping across the region),” Mr Rogers said.

Under the changes proposed the council would be able to issue fines for general littering, dangerous littering (including throwing cigarettes out of car windows), and illegal dumping of more than 200L of waste.

The ability for council to issue fines for these was introduced with the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act in 2011 as an optional choice.

The council has never picked up the option and its officers have no power to issue fines.

Under the council’s system at the moment illegal dumping is referred to the State Government for investigation and possible prosecution.

If adopted council officers would have the power to issue on-the-spot fines and compliance notices requiring the collection, storing, treatment or disposal of waste.

Failing to do so could lead to prosecution with a maximum fine of $143,750.

Sustainability manager Adrian Burns said any fines ordered by the courts were ultimately paid to the councils, but these were usually only about 10 per cent of that figure.

This was compared to the cost of cleaning up illegal dumping which Mr Burns said “would cost in excess of $50,000 or $60,000 in a year … just on staff time”.

Revenue from fines issued by council staff under the proposed system would return to the council’s coffers.

Mr Burns said it would speed up the clean-ups too.

“The community expects us to act very promptly with dumped rubbish,” Mr Burns said.

“That doesn’t always occur with referring (to the State).”