Monash Council trial will teach community about illegal dumping

ILLEGALLY dumped rubbish will be left standing for days under a council plan to find the culprits and educate the community.

City of Monash has vowed to send a message to residents about illegal dumping. Picture: Supplied.

ILLEGALLY dumped rubbish will be left standing for days under a council plan to find the culprits and educate the community.

The six-month trial by the City of Monash has been dubbed “confronting”— but supporters say it is needed to send residents a message that dumping is not okay.

Instead of removing junk within 24 hours of it being reported, Monash will tape it up and write to nearby properties asking for the perpetrator to be dobbed in.

The council will give the rubbish dumper five days to clean up or face a fine under a scheme that Monash mayor Rebecca Paterson hopes will slash the $111,000 annual removal cost.

“We expect that many of the people who have dumped rubbish will choose to remove it within five days rather than risk a $500 fine,” she said.

“We estimate that most dumped rubbish is from people putting it on or near the nature strips at the front of their own properties.”

Some of the items dumped outside homes include furniture, mattresses and white goods. Picture: Supplied.

Yellow tape will be put around items dumped on the nature strips. Picture: Supplied.

“If just 50 per cent of the dumped rubbish in Monash is removed by the person who dumped it ... it’s estimated we could save about $30,000 per year in disposal and pick up costs.”

Cr Paterson said the council was sick of picking up rubbish that was dumped by people who should know better.

“The community is paying for this and we think they would rather the money be spent on improving our facilities like playgrounds and sports pavilions rather than cleaning up other people’s mess.”

Keep Victoria Beautiful chairman Dick Gross said some other councils including Greater Dandenong, Manningham and Greater Geelong ran similar programs.

“It’s pretty confronting because it’s all about leaving ugly litter out there longer,” he said.

“If the council picks up the rubbish straight away it sends the message that it’s okay to dump.”

Mr Gross said that some people innocently left rubbish on the street, and his organisation was seeking funding to help councils educate residents about the right thing to do.

“Dumped rubbish is a huge problem for local government and we have been looking at a British campaign to raise community awareness,” he said.

Most rubbish dumped in Monash is household goods like mattresses, furniture, couches and white goods.

The Environment Protection Authority’s Chris Webb said the EPA supported local councils tackling illegal dumping.

“There is no excuse for littering or illegal dumping anywhere under any circumstances,” he said.

@JMasanauskas