Illegal rubbish dumping on nature strips making Dandenong streets a disgusting mess

MANY Dandenong streets are strewn with unwanted junk in huge, messy hard-rubbish piles and illegal dumping sites.

Rubbish dumped outside an apartment block in Hemmings St, Dandenong this week. Picture: Jack Paynter

MANY Dandenong streets have become illegal dumping grounds for unwanted junk.

Mattresses, couches, a hot water service, a baby’s cot, a bike, wood, cupboards, fridges, tyres, washing machines and paint tins were among the rubbish on streets this week.

At 8am yesterday on May 23 Greater Dandenong Leader counted ten rubbish piles in Hemmings and Potter streets, with just two displaying a hard rubbish booking sticker.

The worst junk pile, outside an apartment block at 20 Hemmings St, where a hard rubbish booking had been made, was so large it was strewn over two sections of the nature strip.

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Greater Dandenong councillor Matthew Kirwan said dumping was worse in areas with multi-unit developments like apartments and townhouses.

He said locals had identified dumping as a key concern and he initiated the Litter Hotspots Program two years ago, which involves areas such as Hemmings St being proactively patrolled for rubbish sites.

“It’s still essential residents report dumping as the sooner it’s reported, the sooner we can get it off the streets and the greater likelihood we catch the offenders,” Cr Kirwan said.

Vinnies Springvale shop manager Gavin Paulokat and Dandenong Council local law officer Mel White with illegally dumped goods and rubbish at the back of the shop. Picture: Penny Stephens

Anyone found leaving rubbish on a nature strip without proper cause, such as a scheduled hard waste collection, can be prosecuted for littering, with fines of $317 or up to $6000 if the matter ends up in court.

Residents can also be issued with an ‘unsightly premise’ infringement for a nature strip which is untidy, dirty and not maintained.

Ratepayers forfeit their one free hard rubbish collection a year if it’s more than three cubic metres and not stacked in four piles — mattresses, whitegoods and metals, household items and televisions and computers.

Dandenong Council’s City Planning, Design and Amenity director Jody Bosman said the council issued 490 fines for litter offences last year.

“Rubbish dumping unfortunately occurs in a number of locations across Greater Dandenong, including medium and high density residential sites, rural and industrial areas as well as parks, reserves and waterways,” Mr Bosman said.

Greater Dandenong Leader reported in December last year that Vinnies op shop in Springvale spends $700 a month clearing rubbish dumped outside the store.

Council Residential Amenity Coordinator Daniel Maltar said at the time more than 50 per cent of the work in local laws was litter dumping or rubbish related.

If the council can’t identify a responsible person, they remove the rubbish piles.

Cleaning litter costs Victorians more than $80 million a year.