Oscar Parry
A petition calling for action on illegal dumping on vacant blocks in Maplestone Eetate, Sunbury, has been presented to Hume council.
During the August 26 council meeting, councillor Jack Medcraft said the 12-signatory petition was started by local resident, Dr Khaled Nazar.
Cr Medcraft said he saw large amounts of dumped material in the estate first-hand.
“I went down to look at the place … and I was staggered by the number of sites that just had incredible amounts of rubbish dumped on them. There [are] cowboys in trucks going in there and emptying loads on vacant blocks,” Cr Medcraft said.
He said while he supports the idea of encouraging fencing off the vacant properties as a deterrent, often this does not prevent those who use the sites as a dumping point.
“We’ll get them to put fences up, but there’s nothing to stop these clowns from hooking them up and running over them,” he said.
Cr Medcraft said while he supported the idea of security cameras being used by the estate to monitor illegal dumping, he alleged that Hume had asked developers to remove these cameras due to disagreements around their placement.
He said the footage and pictures of these types of cameras are high resolution, meaning they can be effectively used for further prosecution purposes with the Environment Protection Authority after illegal dumping .
“It’s very clear – you can almost see the dentures on the driver in one of those trucks [and] the registration is there so you can pick up who it is.”
Cr Sam Misho said he felt the conversation around illegally dumped rubbish “sometimes becomes useless”, and instead would like councils to unite and write to the state and federal governments regarding the matter, requesting firmer and heftier enforcement for illegally dumped rubbish.
“A lot of people try to do the right thing – they’re actually buying a vacant block of land so they can build their dream home for their families, and before you know it, you’ve got every Tom, Dick, and Harry filling the entire land with rubbish,” Cr Misho said.
He said dumped rubbish on land becomes the landowners issue, as they are then responsible for paying for clean-up and fines, leaving them feeling “hopeless”.
