Help needed for Dave Dudley’s roadside litter clean up marathon

Clean up crusader Dave Dudley is about to embark on a marathon clean up of Townsville’s roadside litter between Crystal Creek and Cungulla. Can you lend a hand?

UNPREPARED to rest on his laurels after cleaning up tonnes of rubbish around the Townsville region over the past three years, Dave Dudley has revealed an ambitious plan for 2022.

UNPREPARED to rest on his laurels after cleaning up tonnes of rubbish around the Townsville region over the past three years, Dave Dudley has revealed an ambitious plan for 2022.

From the start of February, the 2021 Citizen of the Year will begin a marathon 240km clean up of the roadsides between Crystal Creek and Cungulla.

It is the latest salvo in a war the former soldier has fought against illegal dumping since founding local clean up group TIDY (Townsville Illegal Dumping Yobos clean ups) in 2019.

Townsville's clean up crusader Dave Dudley is embarking on an ambitious new mission to carry out a roadside clean up between Crystal Creek and Cungulla. Picture: Supplied.

“I’ve been sick of roadside litter since TIDY started. I came up with the idea of a marathon to clean it up from top to bottom of the district to inspire others to get on board and kick the TIDY year off and to inspire customers to do the right thing and bin it not toss it,” Mr Dudley said.

“I’m going to start as often as I can in February and do 5-10km a day starting at Crystal Creek. My boss has given me late shifts for the month so I’ll be into it at sunrise and work my way down to Cungulla,” he said.

“I think (it will take) about a month, it’s 240km in total both sides.”

He said the most common items came from unsecured loads and fast food containers and bottles.

“You can literally go anywhere and see fast food packaging and waste within 50km of an outlet,” he said

“The amount of litter daily, it’s atrocious. Most of it in gullies and drains heads straight to the ocean and this has to stop.”

TIDY's Dave Dudley was disgusted by the amount of illegally dumped rubbish he was finding at the Bohle River. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Dudley said the clean up marathon was going to be a “one man show” but he intended to post to the TIDY Facebook group when he was heading out the next day “and if anyone’s mad enough, they can come along, or just give us a beep”.

“For those fast food companies whose litter we find, TIDY invites you all to join up and show some leadership in helping to stop this menace. Ask me how and I’ll show you,” he said.

“People will be able to donate to the page or purchase stickers or shirts to show support otherwise.”

For those who were continuing to dump and litter, Mr Dudley had a simple message: “Stop it”.

“You do neither us nor our environment any favours and just demonstrate your own selfishness,” he said.

“It’s time to have a long hard look at yourself and that would be a sorry sight indeed.”

To get involved, visit: www.facebook.com/groups/1044042929275742

Illegal dumping signage gets results

In 2021, Mr Dudley received a helping hand from Enkindle Village School students who created colourful signage to make illegal dumpers rethink their life choices at known dumping sites.

“We have a few (signs) out and about now at Hervey Range, Black River and Mt Stuart,” he said.

“I’m getting them out but it’s all part time and we have a lot more that will go out this year and it’s working. Signed areas have less to zero dumping.”

School students take a stand against illegal dumpers

TUGGING at the heart strings is a new tactic being employed by Townsville school students in an effort to stop Townsville’s illegal rubbish dumpers.

Littering grubs may reconsider their life choices after reading heartfelt messages painted by Enkindle Village School students on recycled corflute signs that will be erected at known dumping sites.

Enkindle Village School students show off their hand painted signs that will feature at rubbish dumping sites. Picture: Leighton Smith

Anti-dumping crusader and founder of local clean-up group TIDY Dave Dudley proposed the innovative educational initiative to the Douglas school to create awareness about illegal dumping and encourage clean-up activities.

After receiving donations of paint from Dulux Townsville and corflutes from election candidates Nick Dametto and Scott Piper, he dropped the materials off at the school last month and the kids went to work on the signs.

Enkindle Village School students learn how to find clues to establish the identity of illegal dumpers. Picture: Leighton Smith

When he collected the signs, he got the kids talking after dressing in a disguise and dumping some rubbish in the bushland next to the classroom.

Upon returning to the school with Townsville City councillor Fran O’Callaghan and the Department of Environment and Science’s Rachel Allen, Dave gave the kids a pop quiz. He asked them to describe the dumper, his vehicle, and whether they wrote down a registration number.

The students were then led out to investigate the dumped material to see if they could find clues establishing the dumper’s identity.

Kirra Truscott was glad to play her part in helping protect the planet. Picture: Leighton Smith

Enkindle student Kirra Truscott said it was fun making the signs and learning about illegal dumping. “It felt good to be making something that someone would see and maybe it would change their mind about illegal dumping,” Kirra said.

She had a blunt message for those contemplating dumping their rubbish.

“Don’t do it. It may be your planet now but you’re giving it to us,” she said.

TIDY's Dave Dudley is on a quest to make Townsville rubbish-free. Picture: Leighton Smith

Teacher Janelle Hayes said the topic presented a great opportunity for students to combine art with what they were learning in English about persuading people with a message.

“It’s mainly building awareness for the future and also to tell their parents what they’re learning at school and the sustainability factor.”

She encouraged other schools to get on-board to create a link between the classroom and the community, while letting kids know they can make a difference and look to the future.

Enkindle Village School students learn how to find clues to establish the identity of illegal dumpers. Picture: Leighton Smith

Former soldier broadens his war against illegal dumpers

HE may be discharged from the army but former Townsville soldier Dave Dudley is still fighting a battle against a stealthy enemy – illegal rubbish dumpers.

Sick of seeing the rubbish he encountered when driving his motorcycle and four-wheel drive through Townsville’s bushland, Mr Dudley formed a local clean up group called TIDY (Townsville Illegal Dumping Yobos clean ups) in 2019.

TIDY's Dave Dudley in front of a tyre dump at Black River. Picture: Supplied.

The Facebook group struck a chord with the community, amassing an army of 2700 volunteers looking to help out.

Up to 20 people, aged between eight and 80 years will join Mr Dudley at regular clean up events he organises anywhere between Crystal Creek, Woodstock and Cungulla.

He regards Healy Creek, Hervey Range, North Shore, the Port Access Road, and the Bohle River as the worst areas for illegal dumping.

Although he has a day job as a nurse, Mr Dudley puts in 30 to 40 hours a week into planning, writing letters, searching for dump sights, and doing reconnaissance in advance of clean up events.

He’s got the process down to a fine art and has forged strong working relationships with key stakeholders including the Department of Environment and Science and Townsville City Council, who provides the group with dump access.

TIDY's Dave Dudley was disgusted by the amount of illegally dumped rubbish he was finding at the Bohle River. Picture: Supplied.

Local businesses have also played a key supporting role in donating materials and machinery to clear away the mountains of junk.

“I’d say that it is consistently bad. We’ve removed about 50t of waste in the last two and a half years and 18 vehicles,” Mr Dudley said.

“These (dumpers) are people who just don’t care. Normal people wouldn’t do this. They don’t go in and dump during broad daylight and they don’t dump in areas of high visibility,” he said.

“They go to secluded spots in the bush at night and dump because it’s wrong and they don’t want to get caught.”

As he’s gone on, Mr Dudley has found the rubbish issue has become increasingly problematic in and around Townsville’s surrounding waterways.

It led him to recently launch a new group called the Townsville Three Rivers Cleanup Campaign, which aims to clean and preserve the Ross, Bohle and Black Rivers.

Dumped rubbish from the Bohle River area. Picture: Supplied.

“When you get down to the lower end of the Ross River, towards the mouth and the Port Access area, there’s rubbish in the mangroves and it’s absolutely atrocious,” he said.

“Then you’ve got Black River that’s got burnt out cars and tyres dumped in it and illegal dumps along the edge and then you’ve got the Bohle, which is the worst of the three.”

Given that he had the necessary approvals and expertise, Mr Dudley encouraged frustrated locals to join him in cleaning up the city rather than taking matters into their own hands and having to pay to dump the rubbish they collected.

To join the clean up effort, visit TIDY at www.facebook.com/groups/1044042929275742

and the Three Rivers Clean Up at https://www.facebook.com/groups/715453689381622

This abandoned campsite was left near Ross River. Picture: Andrew Chatfield.

Authorities working hard to tackle illegal dumping

Townsville City Council and the Department of Environment and Science have devoted significant resources to overcome Townsville’s festering illegal dumping problem.

According to council, 479 reports of illegal dumping have been received this calendar year.

Of these, 54 investigations are under way and three penalty infringement notices have been issued.

Deputy Mayor Mark Molachino said illegal dumping was not only unacceptable and disappointing, but unnecessary.

Final preparations made for Anzac Day 2021 in Townsville. Cr Mark Molachino – Deputy Mayor of Townsville. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“Townsville City Council invests considerable resources in keeping our city clean and tidy. Council provides weekly rubbish collection, fortnightly collection of recyclables and a kerbside collection scheme for hard rubbish,” Cr Molachino said.

It also operates five waste transfer stations (Stuart, Hervey Range, Toomulla, Bluewater and Magnetic Island) where there is no cost to dump green waste and recyclables.

“There is a small cost to dump other types of waste at these transfer stations, but it is a lot less than the fine for littering or illegally dumping rubbish.”

He said council also offered free dump days, the next of which is being held from October 22-25.

“Sadly, there are some in our community who think it’s acceptable to litter and illegally dump rubbish,” he said.

“Where it can, council takes action against these individuals through the issuing of fines or making them clean-up their mess,” he said.

“One of the tools used by council is mobile cameras which are deployed to illegal dumping hot spots. Intelligence provided by these cameras, as well as from members of the public, is used by council in investigating instances of illegal dumping.”

Dumped tyres recovered during clean ups near the Bohle River. Picture: Supplied.

Council will continue to look at any and all options available to stop people illegally dumping.

A Department of Environment and Science spokesman said they administered the Local Government Illegal Dumping Partnerships Program (the Partnerships Program), which has allocated $3.6 million to 27 local governments to employ 31 dedicated illegal dumping compliance officers.

“The Partnerships Program has enabled Townsville City Council to employ two dedicated officers for 12 months to investigate and enforce illegal dumping offences,” the spokesman said.

“In the past year, 384 reports of illegal dumping were received and investigated by Townsville City Council, and approximately 395,000 litres of waste was removed from the environment.

“State-wide the Partnerships Program has resulted in the removal of more than 12 million litres, or over 50,000 wheelie bins, of illegally dumped waste from the environment.

Penalty Infringement Notices for illegally dumping waste range from $2205 to $10,338, with the potential for much higher penalties for matters prosecuted in Court.

Members of the public can report littering and illegal dumping through LIDORS on the department’s website or by contacting TCC.

A vacuum was needed to suck up dumped bean bag beans at the Bohle River. Picture: Supplied.

Rental pain grows after vacancy rate tightens further

IT’S getting even harder to rent a house in Townsville after the latest residential vacancy figures showed a further tightening of the market in the September quarter.

Released on Wednesday, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s September 2021 Residential Vacancy Report saw Townsville’s vacancies fall from 0.7 per cent to 0.6 per cent.

Migration from interstate, the return of foreign expats and the popularity of Queensland’s regions were cited as factors putting pressure on residential vacancy rates.

The tightening was mirrored around Northern Queensland with Cairns’ rate dropping from 0.7 per cent to 0.6 per cent and Mackay’s dropping from 0.8 per cent to 0.7 per cent.

The latest vacancy data will come as a blow for locals struggling to secure a rental, like the tent-confined Van Os family, who are the face of Townsville’s worsening rental crisis.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella would like to see more land released to overcome the housing shortage. Picture: Stewart McLean

According to REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella, property owners were taking advantage of the market conditions and asking for higher rents when tenancy agreements were up for renewal.

She called on state and local governments to work together to address the problem by releasing more land for the development of housing.

With owner-occupiers active in the market were in competition with potential investors.

“Some investors are taking advantage of high capital growth and making a decision to sell their existing properties, which is exacerbating the limited supply of rentals,” Ms Mercorella said.

“More investors in the market should increase the number of properties in the rental pool and begin driving up vacancy rates, relieving stress on renters.”

Regional Economist Colin Dwyer said Townsville’s residential rental rates traditionally eased annually around October due to seasonal migration.

“Many people move at this time of year. Tertiary students go home, defence personnel and public sector staff are transferred and some people end their leases and relocate,” Mr Dwyer said.

Regional economist Colin Dwyer says there could be relief on the way for people struggling to secure a rental property in Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

He said last year’s “easing factor” between October and mid-January was about 80 per cent. “The vacancy rate went from 0.6 per cent to 1.1 per cent; still tight. The year before, the easing factor was around 40 per cent.

“We expect the demand for rental properties to remain competitive, picking up around early to mid-January and continuing rent rises,” Dwyer said.

In recent years, he said the tightening vacancy rate was affected by the advancement of significant defence, manufacturing, transport and mining projects, along with the creation of 4,000 jobs across the Townsville region.

Due to the impacts of Covid-19, he said Vespas (Virus Escapees Seeking Provincial Australia) and Boomerangers (people who left Townsville and have returned to the city), have played a key role in the market.

He said there was anecdotal evidence of increased household breakdowns creating a need for additional homes, with investors also selling their investment properties because of new state government policy and rising insurance costs.

“The supply of new housing is an essential component of the rental market. New supply for rent and or owner occupiers, is rising but not fast enough to meet demand,” he said.

Technology breakthrough boosts industries, councils and reef

LOCALLY developed technology is set to transform North Queensland’s aquaculture and agriculture industries while helping local councils and protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

RegenAqua is world leading technology pioneered by world leader James Cook University in partnership with Pacific Biotechnologies Pty Limited (PacBio) – an innovative 100 per cent Australian-owned company.

High levels of nitrogen and phosphorous are being discharged into rivers and Great Barrier Reef waters from aquaculture and municipal wastewater facilities.

RegenAqua uses sunlight to convert these nutrients into macroalgae (seaweed) which is processed into a biostimulant (PlantJuice) to replace conventional fertilisers.

Native green algae use sunlight to absorb nutrient pollutants before being converted into a biostimulant (PlantJuice). Picture: Pacific Biotechnologies

The benefits are cleaner water, further aquaculture expansion and growth in sustainable agriculture.

The system was developed as a solution to reduce nutrient discharge on PacBio’s aquaculture assets, however highly successful trials at Cleveland Bay and more recently at the Burdekin Wastewater Treatment Plants have proven the technology as an effective, low cost, scalable solution for all councils.

Burdekin Mayor Cr Lyn McLaughlin, Pacific Biotechnologies CEO Sam Bastounas, Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith, Hinchinbrook Mayor Cr Ramon Jayo are excited about the benefits of harnessing macro-algae technology. Picture: Supplied.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith said RegenAqua was a win-win, protecting the Great Barrier Reef while creating growth for our agriculture and aquaculture industries.

She said the project could support local jobs, and economic development and be exported to other nations.

“It ticks all the boxes for governments as a real solution to achieve greater sustainability of our precious natural assets, but with an economic development lens that can be commercialised into a nation-building project to positively benefit all Australians,” she said.

Examining the macroalgae (seaweed) which is then processed into a biostimulant to replace conventional fertilisers. Picture: Supplied.

Townsville Enterprise proposes a three staged approach to develop this opportunity.

The first stage was establishing a $8.8 million facility in the Burdekin, where a successful pilot trial had already taken place.

It would be expanded to North Queensland Local Government Areas (for $24 million), and then across the remaining 17 Queensland LGAs in the reef catchment area ($100 million).

The deployment of RegenAqua will create 100 jobs during construction and approximately 70 jobs once the systems are operational.

James Cook University Vice Chancellor, Professor Sandra Harding said there was tremendous potential for the growth of the aquaculture sector and for expansion of the RegenAqua project.

Pacific Biotechnologies chief executive Sam Bastounas said RegenAqua was an innovative homegrown technology that was low cost, scalable and readily deployable.

Seaweed ponds treating wastewater from prawn farms at Pacific Biotechnologies facility in North Queensland. Picture: Pacific Biotechnologies

Burdekin Shire Council Mayor Lyn McLaughlin said the pilot’s success had paved the way for a full-scale demonstration.

“The small-scale Macro-Algal Bioremediation Facility at the Ayr/Brandon Waste Water Treatment Plant has been operating for eight months and in that time, has demonstrated the potential to significantly reduce harmful nutrients, including other elements like aluminium and heavy metals, in the effluent treated,” Cr McLaughlin said.

“A full-scale demonstration represents not only a world-first that could revolutionise the treatment of effluent to ensure less environmental impact, but offer an alternative treatment option which is significantly cheaper to construct, operate and maintain while just as effective in removal of targeted nutrients.

Burdekin Mayor Cr Lyn McLaughlin, Pacific Biotechnologies CEO Sam Bastounas, Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith, Hinchinbrook Mayor Cr Ramon Jayo are excited about the benefits of harnessing macro-algae technology. Picture: Supplied.

“Council was proud to partner with Pacific Bio and James Cook University for the pilot, however now that the trial is at expansion stage, it is time for other tiers of government to recognise the global significance of this project and support it however they can.”

Hinchinbrook Shire Council Mayor, Cr Ramon Jayo said the RegenAqua technology is an exciting prospect for his region.

“It’s positive that the initial trial results indicate that it’s good for soil health and could lessen our reliance on synthetic fertiliser to ameliorate soil,” Cr Jayo said.

“We’re excited about this could mean for Hinchinbrook and I can see a big future for this project in relation to cane farming in our region.”

The RegenAqua system was approved by GBRMPA for aquaculture in 2017 and was recently endorsed in September by the former Chief Scientist of Australia, Professor Ian Chubb.

Seaweed ponds treating wastewater from prawn farms at Pacific Biotechnologies facility in North Queensland. Picture: Pacific Biotechnologies

Originally published as Help needed for Dave Dudley’s roadside litter clean up marathon