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The Moorabool News – 1 February, 2022 Page 3
Rubbish dumped on the nature strip outside Steptoes Opportunity shop. Photos – Lachlan Ellis
Dumping, not donating By Lachlan Ellis A local non-profit has seen the dumping of items on its nature strip and footpath, increase during COVID, despite a sign and fence instructing they are not taking donations. The dumping costs hundreds of dollars to remove every month. Steptoes Opp Shop in Ballan gives away thousands of dollars to charities and the community every year, but dealing with junk dumped out the front is cutting into both its fundraising, and the time of its volunteer workforce – many of whom are retirees. Fred Moore is one of the volunteers at Steptoes, and the former President of the Ballan Lionesses. She told the Moorabool News that while dumping had always been a problem in her nearly ten years volunteering at Steptoes, it was at its worst now. “It just comes, it just appears…we had the gates up saying ‘no donations’, no op shops are taking donations at the moment, we’ve been slowed down by COVID,” Ms Moore said.
“It shows up every week, but never as bad as recently. I’d say 40 per cent of all donations is rubbish…it’s cheaper for us to rent six skips, we can’t afford to go to the tip anymore.” “They know we’re all in our 70s and 80s…karma will get them,” Ms Moore said. Lyn Plummer is the Manager of Ballan & District Community House, which took over management of Steptoes Opp Shop last year, and said the dumping was “appalling”. “Sometimes I notice that if we have the gate closed with the ‘no donations’ sign, they just throw them over the gate. ,” Ms Plummer said. “People leave furniture, clothes…quite often there’s big photographs of landscapes with glass backing, toys, vacuum cleaners…all sorts of stuff. We appreciate that they’re giving us stuff, but if there’s a sign out there that’s clearly visible, it means we can’t cope, there’s not enough storage space in Ballan at the moment.” Ms Plummer said volunteers don’t want to turn people away when they get good things.
Auction for impounded vehicles
More than a dozen impounded vehicles are being auctioned by Moorabool Shire Council, with the call for perspective bidders to make an appointment. The vehicles range from sedans, station wagons, utes, trucks, and even a boat on a trailer. The vehicles are available for viewing in Ballan on Thursday 3 February from 10 – 10:30 am, and Thursday 10 February from 3 – 3:30 pm. To make an appointment to view the vehicles at either of these times, call the Community Safety team on (03) 5366 7100. Bids must be submitted via email to info@moorabool.vic.gov.au addressed to the Community Safety team, or via written submission addressed to Community Safety at a Council Customer Service centre, before 12 pm on Friday 11 February. For more information, visit www.moorabool.vic.gov.au/impounded-vehicles.
Photo MSC
“…but when we say we can’t deal with it, there’s too much stuff, people need to bring it another day. We’re only open Fridays and Saturdays. On Mondays our volunteers are there for four or five hours just trying to sort out stuff that’s come over the weekend. It’s too much,” she said. So what’s the solution? Ms Plummer isn’t sure if there is one, but the Board of the Community House would try and come up with one. “We’re checking the surveillance cameras, but we don’t think it’s good enough to recognise people. Someone did come in and say they got the registration of a car that was dumping a lot of stuff, but you’ve got to have a photograph as proof,” she said. “We’ll talk with the Board…I think we should board up the shed or move the donation area to Inglis Street, instead of Stead Street.” Steptoes Opp Shop is located on the corner of Stead and Inglis Street Ballan, at the roundabout.