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Editor: Neil Walker 0431 932 041 Journalists: Stephen Taylor, Neil Walker 5973 6424 Photographers: Gary Sissons, Yanni Dellaportas Advertising Sales: Anton Hoffman 0411 119 379 Real Estate Account Manager: Jason Richardson 0421 190 318 Production and graphic design: Maria Mirabella, Marcus Pettifer Group Editor: Keith Platt 0439 394 707 Publisher: Cameron McCullough REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Peter McCullough, Stuart McCullough, Andrew “Toe Punt” Kelly, Craig MacKenzie ADDRESS: Mornington Peninsula News Group PO Box 588 Hastings 3915 Email: team@baysidenews.com.au Web: baysidenews.com.au DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 1PM ON THURSDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2017 NEXT ISSUE PUBLICATION DATE: MONDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2017

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Waste not wanted: Rubbish dumped at Langwarrin last week. Picture: Yanni

Waste dumping ‘waste of money’ Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au THE cost of cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish at the Arthurs Seat State Park and Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve is taking away money that could go to both parks’ upkeep, according to Parks Victoria. Parks Victoria ranger Luke Ashford said weekly dumps of household and green waste, building material, old furniture and timber offcuts, had to be cleaned up by two rangers over an average two hours each week costing $36,000 a year. “That’s money that’s not going back into parks where it should be going,” he said. Parks Victoria spokeswoman Sally Nowlan said the cost of clearing the most recent waste dumping at Arthurs Seat would be about $2500 – more than usual as the rubbish had been pushed over a cliff making retrieval difficult.

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September 2017

She said another waste dump “hotspot” was Devilbend Natural Features Reserve, Moorooduc. Mr Ashford said dumpers are even resorting to cutting wire fences so they could drive their waste into parks to dump it. The cost of replacing fencing adds to the clean-up bill. He said ill-informed residents backing onto reserves often just threw their green waste over the fence, thinking it would go unnoticed. This can spread weeds in the parks harming indigenous plants. Ms Nowlan said the annual clean up cost statewide is close to $1 million. “It happens every week and we are really sick of it,” she said. “It takes massive amounts of time and money to clean it up. “Often the rubbish is recyclable, so why they have to dump it I don’t know. One load even included a bag of dirty nappies. “We are looking at installing surveil-

lance cameras at rubbish ‘hotspots’ because we have to track these pests down.” Mornington Peninsula Shire acting infrastructure services executive manager Graham Riley said it is “disappointing” when rubbish is dumped at parks and reserves. “We encourage the community to respect the peninsula and take care of our environment,” he said. “The collection of dumped rubbish and general litter costs us more than $480,000 each year. The shire provides extra capacity garbage, recycling and green waste bins to residential properties for an additional fee.” Environment Protection Authority officers are always on the lookout for dumpers who face fines of $317 for basic litter but up to $800 for rubbish containing dangerous material, such as glass. Businesses face fines of up to $250,000.