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Question: Rubbish dumping

Good Morning Sean,

Having been a long time resident of Springvale, I have noticed that a lot of residents are treating certain areas as dumping grounds.

It appears that anywhere where there appears to be a higher density of people (i.e. flats/units), there seems to be more rubbish. The creek is always full of rubbish whether it be a shopping trolley, a tv, shoes, bags etc. So naturally when a downpour occurs, that all ends up being pushed downstream thus polluting our waterways. The fencing next to the railway lines (along Newcomen Rd) also seems to attract its fair share where I have seen mattresses, tyres etc. This is just one area – I imagine there are plenty of others within the suburb.

Ideally, as people seem to be lazy and find dumping easier than calling for a collection, the council needs to implement a regular inspection of the city and clean up as rubbish is just unsightly and an environmental issue.

Perhaps the free once-yearly collection on a standard date should be re-instated along with allowing each household one extra free collection a year (one that needs to be booked via the council). This could be more appealing to residents.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I hope something can be done to help rectify the situation.


Answer

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.

The problem is quite well defined. Solutions are harder to come by. Rubbish dumping is quite hard to combat as the culprits do it out of sight.

Council recently discussed the cost and efficacy of once yearly collection. My recollection is that it wasn’t supported – it would cost the council an extra million dollars at least that would be passed on to ratepayers in the waste charge.

We have and are trying new initiatives such as in the following links. A surprising piece of advice when I asked the council officers involved was that these initiatives do not seem the impact rubbish dumping. The initiatives just make it more convenient for residents that are already doing the right thing.

Your suggestion of regular inspections & clean up is also something I’ve raised, but it was not supported due to the cost. We do have hotspots that are regularly inspected and cleaned up, but to inspect the whole municipality on a regular basis would cost a lot.

http://www.greaterdandenong.com/document/30827/pop-up-drive-thru-recycling-days

http://www.greaterdandenong.com/document/30826/homecycle-one-off-kerbside-collection

http://www.greaterdandenong.com/document/25566/littering-and-illegal-rubbish-dumping

Regards

Cr Sean O’Reilly