Cameras catching illegal dumpers at Springvale Vinnies with Council issuing six to seven fines a week
SPRINGVALE Vinnies has become an illegal dumping ground with lazy people ditching used syringes, broken electrical items and even dirty nappies at the store every day — but be warned, cameras are watching.
South East
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A VINNIES op shop has become an illegal dumping ground with lazy people ditching used syringes, broken electrical items and even dirty nappies at the store every day.
There is so much rubbish dumped at the Springvale charity store that Greater Dandenong Council sends a truck daily to remove bulkier waste left in the rear laneway.
Vinnies spends $700 a month taking the unusable items to the tip and volunteers spend countless hours sifting through the rubbish to find items the store can rehome or resell.
“It’s $700 which we could be using to help people in need,” store manager Gavin Paulokat said.
Broken toys, smashed homewares and old televisions are also among the junk frequently dumped at the store.
“It’s been an ongoing problem since the day the store opened,” Mr Paulokat said.
The Christmas period and public holidays sees an extremely high amount of rubbish illegally dumped.
Council’s residential amenity co-ordinator Daniel Maltar warned offenders will be prosecuted for littering under the state government legislation with fines of $311 or up to $6000 if the matter ends up in court.
Cameras have been installed at the op shop and Mr Maltar said on average in the last year council has issued six to seven infringements a week to dumpers at Springvale Vinnies.
He said it’s a problem right across the municipality and they are also targeting dumpers in Bangholme, central Dandenong and Bayliss and Taylors roads in Dandenong South.
“Just over 50 per cent of work we do in local laws is litter dumping or rubbish based,” Mr Maltar said.
“From our perspective there’s really not a lot of excuse. Council are not only going above and beyond in terms of the initiatives but like other councils we offer a free hard waste collection service which you get once a year when you need it.”
Council also runs a pop up recycling day at Greaves Reserve and Springvale which won a Keep Victoria Beautiful sustainability award. The next one will be in February.
“We’d rather see people doing the right thing than having to issue infringement notices,” Mr Maltar said.
“I think, particularly here, people see it as almost a victimless crime. There’s a perception out there that nobody’s getting hurt.
“We want to make sure people continue to donate to the Vinnies, that’s how they survive, but they just need to do it during business hours.”
The cost of clearing dumped rubbish has forced the Salvos op shop in Wantirna South to permanently close its doors after 20 years.