By KATH GANNAWAY
THE rubbishing of bushland within metres of Brittania Creek Falls, a popular spot with bushwalkers, has Wesburn resident John Tucker fuming.
Mr Tucker, manager of Wesburn St John’s Recreation Camp, says he has noticed an increase in rubbish being dumped in the bush that surrounds the camp in recent months.
But, he was particularly disgusted, he said, when he discovered the pile of household rubbish so close to the falls.
“I’ve been up there more than usual lately, taking groups for bushwalks up there, and what alerted me to it in the first place was the smell.
“Being a hot day, it smelt like a tip; it was just disgusting,” he said.
Mr Tucker pointed out several places along Brittania Creek Road on the way to the falls where rubbish has been tipped over embankment.
At one point, the bush below the road near a disused quarry is littered with rubbish for several metres.
“I don’t get it. You don’t want this sort of thing happening at all, but if they are going to do it, why not just dump it at the quarry where it can be cleaned up quickly,” he said.
“Here, you have this beautiful, natural waterfall and adjacent to it is a pile of rubbish. Nothing justifies that.
“You hear people say that rubbish dumping is increasing because of high tip fees, but there’s no excuse for this; it’s just vandalism,” he said.
Mr Tucker believes it’s very likely, given the remote location and the state of the road, that the rubbish dumped at the falls is the work of a local.
Mr Tucker reported the matter to Yarra Ranges Council and is urging anyone who comes across rubbish dumped in the bush or on the roadside, to report it to the council immediately.
“I think a lot of people just ‘tut tut’ and think how awful it is, but don’t take that extra step to report it,” he said.
Yarra Ranges O’Shannassy Ward representative, Cr Jim Child, supported Mr Tucker’s stance that dumping is not on, in any circumstances.
“There’s no excuse for people going into the bush and dumping like that. It is a real shame,” he said.
“We value our forests and national parks and this is just a totally inappropriate way to treat that community asset we have here.”
Cr Child added that he believed the incidence of rubbish dumping was less now with people making better use of the facilities available for collection and recycling of rubbish.
“The message I would like to get out is that if we do our rubbish correctly, using both bins correctly and with the hard rubbish collection, we’re well and truly catered for.
“In any case, there’s no excuse for dumping rubbish,” he said.
Anyone who witnesses illegal rubbish dumping is urged to take down a vehicle number, or other identifying details, and report to Yarra Ranges Council on 1300 368 333.
