Cannabis plants, syringes and household and commercial waste are among the piles of rubbish being regularly dumped in Lerderderg State Park.
That’s the word of members of community group Bullengarook Landcare Group, who are concerned by the waste polluting their beloved area.
Tracey Howell, who lives near the forest’s edge and has walked through the park a couple of times a week for years, said she continuously finds freshly dumped rubbish.
“There are regular dumping spots that people use,” Ms Howell said. “I’ve seen all sorts of things in the Pyrete Ranges.”
She said new piles of rubbish – including remnants of cannabis harvests and bags of household rubbish such as clothing – was turfed in the bushland “weekly, on average”.
“I don’t know if it’s getting worse – but it’s certainly not getting any better,” she said.
Vehicles are not permitted in the park, but offenders have been breaking through locks on the fire access gates.
Ms Howell said that before Christmas, several park gates were vandalised and bent in an attempt to stop them from closing.
Another concerned Bullengarook Landcare member, who did not want to be named, gave candidate for Macedon Amanda Millar a tour through the park earlier this month to see the abandoned waste first-hand.
They arrived at the park’s Hobbs Road carpark to find syringes littering the ground. Along the fire tracks off Fitzgerald and Hobbs roads they found cannabis waste, waste from a household building site and piles of gravel.
Mrs Millar said the level of rubbish being consistently dumped showed that current prevention methods clearly were not working.
“Bushwalkers should be looking out for snakes and native animals, not dirty syringes discarded on the tracks,” she said.
Parks Victoria is responsible for maintaining the state park. Bullengarook Landcare members have been reporting dumping incidents to the authority for years.
Parks Victoria area chief ranger Siobhan Rogan said the authority monitored known hotspots, carried out investigations and enforcement activity, and worked with police on information provided by the public.
“We also work with local councils and the EPA where necessary to clean up illegal rubbish dumping,” Ms Rogan said.
“Rubbish dumping is unfortunately an ongoing issue in many parks and reserves, however, we are encouraged by the increased community vigilance and reporting.”
She said rubbish dumping was “destructive to the environment, a costly and time-consuming exercise to remediate”.
Anyone who suspects suspicious behaviour or witnesses illegal dumping can call Parks Victoria on 13 19 63. Offenders can be prosecuted and face a maximum fine of $6342.
