Melbourne councils are spending millions of ratepayers’ money clearing illegally dumped rubbish, and there are fears the city’s second lockdown will spark more waste woes.
And councillors fear Melbourne’s second lockdown will spark more of the reckless behaviour and called on the State Government to help manage the “crisis”.
Rubbish dumped illegally on council land cost the City of Hume, in Melbourne’s north, $2.55 million in the last financial year.
“Council works hard to keep the city clean and rubbish-free but is now spending an astronomical amount each year just to keep up with dumping throughout the city,” Cr Joseph Haweil told NCA NewsWire.
“Ratepayers are copping the enormous annual bill because of the actions of a selfish few. I‘m concerned that the second round of restrictions will see more of this shocking behaviour.”
Reports of dumped rubbish across Whittlesea Council increased by 45 per cent in March, when Melbourne first went into lockdown, compared to the same time last year.
The council in Melbourne’s northern suburbs spent $2.5 million to remove dumped waste last year.
Whittlesea planning, partnerships and engagement director Julian Edwards said the council would keep its landfill site open during the second lockdown in a bid to deter another surge of rubbish dumping.
“This year we have experienced a spike in illegally dumped rubbish on council land,” he said.
“COVID-19 would definitely be a contributor to this, especially in the earlier Stage 3 lockdown during April and May with more people at home doing clean-up jobs along and our local tips being closed.”
Other figures obtained by NCA NewsWire showed the expenditure of councils in Melbourne’s west were also at the million-dollar mark with dumped rubbish costing Melton $1.5m last year, while Brimbank forked out $1m.
Southeastern councils Casey and Mornington both spent $700,000 on removing illegally dumped waste last year, while inner-city councils Greater Dandenong and Monash were spending around the $500k mark each year.
Victoria’s peak ratepayer support group called on the State Government to manage the issue and prevent “tens-of-millions” in squandered cash.
“State Government continues to cost shift in this area and is forcing councils to use their rate monies, to fund a ballooning cost,” Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston said.
“When some councils are having to divert millions of ratepayers money into this, the system is broken – State Government must start funding councils on a reimbursement basis if they want them to continue to deal with managing illegal waste.”
But Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio claimed the State Government had a plan to manage rubbish dumping.
“Thanks to our Recycling Victoria policy, we are investing $71.4 million to tackle waste crime and keep Victorians safe, with more resources to stop illegal dumping and stockpiling, and deal with high-risk sites and hazardous waste,” she said.
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