Army of “pedestrian street cleaners” could tidy Melbourne CBD
Melbourne City Council has revealed a new plan to tackle litter across the CBD and a part of the scheme could see city residents get some big incentives for going green.
VIC News
Don't miss out on the headlines from VIC News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A litter “army” could be put to work across Melbourne.
Melbourne City Council, in its annual plan, has revealed it will investigate employing “pedestrian street cleaners” to pick up litter across the city.
This would be on top of existing rubbish and graffiti removal.
The draft 2020-21 budget and plan states the council will also consider increasing anti-littering signs in the city.
And the council will look into a rates incentive system for residents and businesses that are clean and green, aimed at reducing emissions from city buildings and encouraging renewable energy.
A Melbourne City Council spokeswoman said it was too early to give details because the initiatives had only been raised for further investigation.
But Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston said the council should spend less time “investigating” rubbish plans and more time actually cleaning up streets and rivers.
“This is their core business,” he said. “They should be just getting on with it, not ‘looking into it’.”
The council should also just go ahead and introduce rates reductions for businesses and residents which went green, not waste precious time and money investigating the idea, Mr Hurlston said.
“This council loves a project and loves to be seen to be doing research, yet delivers little of tangible benefit to the ratepayers it’s meant to serve ... it should already know how to give rates discounts to its community,” he said.
Meanwhile Wyndham and Geelong councils told the Sunday Herald Sun they were cracking down on illegal rubbish dumping and were ready to throw the book at rogue operators and ratepayers who did the wrong thing.
Wyndham City mayor Josh Gilligan said “insidious” rubbish dumping was costing ratepayers in his council area millions of dollars every year to clean up and dispose of.
“Wyndham City has zero tolerance towards rubbish dumping in our city . . . we will use the full force of the law available to us to protect our city,” he said.
And Geelong Council mayor Stephanie Asher implored citizens to dob in dumpers.
“Our community is fed up with illegal waste dumping, which damages the environment and creates a health and safety risk for residents,” she said.
“The City of Greater Geelong is determined to take strong action against anyone responsible for this type of activity. We want to send a clear message that it’s not acceptable. We also strongly encourage anyone who witnesses potential illegal dumping to make a report to the EPA.”
MORE NEWS: