Illegal dumping on Clean Up Australia Day prompts call for help

Council is calling on residents to ‘dob in a dumper’ after three men were seen emptying a trailer load of construction waste in bushland at Tewantin on Clean Up Australia Day.

Council’s Waste Coordinator Ian Florence said the trailer load of broken bricks was dumped in the bush near Noosa District Sports Complex around midday on March 3.

It occurred as hundreds of volunteers were out in parks, gardens and other public areas across the shire removing rubbish.

“It is very disappointing for volunteers to have this sort of blatant dumping occur as they’re giving up their time to rid our natural areas of rubbish,” Mr Florence said.

“Fortunately a quick-thinking member of the public who witnessed the incident took down the vehicle’s registration number and took pictures, which will greatly assist our investigation.”

Mr Florence said Council welcomed information from residents to help identify culprits. It was one of numerous ways Council caught up with offenders.

“The message is simple - if you dump rubbish on public land, you will be caught,” Mr Florence said.

Officers have handed out more than $9000 worth of fines in the past six months.

“As well as being unsightly, dumped rubbish costs ratepayers thousands of dollars a year in removal expenses. Plus, it can harm the environment.”

Fines for illegal dumping start at $2,088, with some offences attracting penalties of up to $126,000.

“By contrast, residents can recycle whitegoods such as a washing machine or dryer or a degassed fridge at Council’s Resource Recovery Centre, for free,” Mr Florence said.

“And materials such as bricks can be dropped off at the Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre for as little as $19 per cubic metre - far less than the fines for illegal dumping when you’re inevitably caught.”

Have you witnessed illegal dumping? Contact Council with the details on (07) 5329 6500 or via email.

7 March 2019