Avalon family farm hit by massive illegal rubbish dump

A farmer has worked through the night to save his hay crop after illegal dumpers blocked his farm gate with tonnes of demolition waste at a critical harvesting time.

The owners of a family farm in, Avalon say a large pile of industrial rubbish was dumped on their property.

A huge pile of demolition waste has been dumped at the gate of a family farm in Avalon, putting crucial work at jeopardy and prompting Geelong’s mayor Stretch Kontelj to call for harsher penalties for the shocking behaviour.

On December 2, Avalon cattle farmer John Young woke up to cut hay, and found a “12-15m tipper truckload” pile of construction rubbish dumped at the farm’s gate on Beach Rd.

His mother Yvonne Young said it wasn’t a random act of domestic rubbish-dumping, but was more likely from a large commercial enterprise or demolition contractor, who should be aware of legislation, responsibilities and liabilities.

“A very large quantity of wood, plaster, soil and general refuse that appeared to be from a house demolition as it also contained toys and household items,” she said

She said the “inconsiderate and “selfish” dumping pile interfered significantly with the family business as it blocked a vital access gate.

Mrs Young said the blocked paddock was used for hay production, and if left just a day or two, hay could become mouldy and dangerous for their cows.

“That special access is required for large machinery, too wide to fit through the internal gates,” he said.

She said Mr Young had accessed the hay via a “complicated alternate route” dragging equipment “sideways” through their pasture paddocks and “crushing valuable pasture on the way”.

“He went home at 10am (Thursday) morning to have a couple of hours sleep, having been on the tractor, mowing all night,” she said.

The family reported the dumping to council, which quickly cleaned it up on Friday with four workers and two large crane trucks. The family is now looking at installing CCTV.

“I shudder to think how much illegal dumping is costing council and ratepayers in clean-ups,” she said.

“Only a few weeks ago, I had to report the dumping of large racing tyres in the drain, which

blocked water flow.”

“I hope that these dumpers can be identified and dealt with before they strike again.”

She said neighbours had since also sent her photos of similar dumpings, including one on November 2 also on Beach Rd.

A large illegal rubbish dump found by neighbours on Beach Rd, Avalon on November 2.

Mr Kontelj said rubbish dumping like this was becoming all too common.

“This type of behaviour makes my blood boil,” he said.

“It’s done under the cover of darkness and these people are hard to catch.

“I want the force of law to be brought down on these people – name and shame them.

He said in the past, when this type of dumping had occurred, council had worked with police to install CCTV and catch the offenders.

“We need to make an example of people like this.”

Mr Kontelj said he would continue to advocate for “absolutely material” penalties for rubbish dumping.

An Environment Protection Authority (EPA) spokesman said the EPA had not received a pollution report for the property, but took more than 25,000 pollution reports from the public every year.

He said in 2024 the EPA conducted more than 4400 inspections, and issued more than 160 environmental infringement notices usually fines between $2000 and $10,000, including more than 7000 for littering, and 96 prosecutions in court.

Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA’s 24-hour hotline.

Originally published as Avalon family farm hit by massive illegal rubbish dump