Werribee River Association volunteers have removed more than 800kg of rubbish from local parks and beaches

Parks and beaches across Wyndham are used as an illegal dumping grounds for rubbish. Now, the fight is on to clean up our city.

John Forrester picks up rubbish from the South Werribee beach foreshore. Picture: Athos Sirianos

A committed group of Werribee volunteers are doing their bit for the community by clearing up to 800kg of rubbish from beaches and parks.

The Werribee River Association, which is aligned with Beach Patrol Australia, has been targeting different locations in Wyndham to pick up rubbish.

Last year the group picked up more than 600kg of rubbish from a spot behind Wyndham harbour and about 800kg at its K Road Cliffs clean up, where 2000 bottles and cans were removed.

Werribee River Association deputy chair Robert Bradley said while the group had done well to reduce rubbish levels in some areas, there was still plenty of work to be done.

“The big thing around Wyndham is dumped rubbish,” he said.

“People dump trailer loads at those remote sites. Our first clean up was (at the South Werribee beach) in 2015 and we got a truckload of rubbish but now we’ve broken the back of that and it’s stayed pretty good.

“It’s convenient for people to just not give a stuff and dump it at those places where they think no one can see.

“The council maintains areas like the Werribee beach quite well and I have to say I think people are starting to do the right thing. There’s not a lot of rubbish dumped in those public places, but it gets quite bad in other areas that perhaps aren’t as well known.”

Members of Werribee River Association were out picking up rubbish along the Werribee South beach foreshore on Wednesday.

The wider group of volunteers involved in the monthly beach clean-up call themselves ‘Beach Patrol 3030’.

Wyndham Council director city operations Stephen Thorpe said council was “continually investing” keep areas like Werribee South beach clean.

“Litter, especially during high seasonal use, can be an issue and we encourage people to use the many bins provided or to take rubbish home to dispose of correctly,” he said.

“Werribee South Beach is part of our routine clean up program and is undertaken mechanically. This includes the collection of rubbish, seaweed and debris within the top 150mm layer of sand.

“This clean up program is undertaken all year round, the frequency is increased to a weekly program during the summer months until February and then fortnightly until the end of April.”