Hume Council cracks down on rubbish dumpers in court

HUME Council has cracked down on illegal rubbish dumping, resulting in thousands of dollars in fines for law-breakers.

Rubbish dumped in Craigieburn.

HUME Council has cracked down on illegal rubbish dumping, resulting in thousands of dollars in fines for law-breakers.

Those in the firing line were two individuals and a company the council took to court.

Appearing before Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court, all pleaded guilty and were fined a total of $3100 for separate incidents on a vacant site in Craigieburn.

The company dumped rocks and was slugged $2000, one person offloaded two black bags of rubbish and copped a $500 fine, and another was $600 out of pocket for illegally getting rid of green and general waste.

Mayor Drew Jessop said council officers used CCTV footage from remote surveillance to nab the offenders.

“This case should send a very clear message to anyone who thinks they can simply find an empty block to dump rubbish on and expect the community to deal with it,” Cr Jessop said.

“These actions are disrespectful towards our community as, ultimately, illegal dumping costs ratepayers money and damages the appearance of our city.”

Cr Jessop said council made it easy to dispose of unwanted goods, so anybody trying to get around the system would face the consequences of their actions.

“We take all matters of illegal dumping seriously and we attempt to prosecute each offender, regardless of the size of the waste,” he said.

He said council had “ways and means” of investigating these matters, including surveillance cameras in “hot spots”.

As well as collecting household waste and recyclable material from the kerbside, council also offers a limited free hard rubbish collection service to all residents, along with other free recycling services.

Those with information about illegally dumped rubbish in Hume can phone 1300 HUME CLEAN or report it through the Hume app.

CLICK HERE for more information about the council’s waste services.