By Callum Ludwig
A recent incident of illegal dumping on Cemetery Track at Old Warburton has prompted the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s (DELWP) Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) team and Warburton residents to speak about the rates of discarded waste.
The offence was reported to the FFMV team on Saturday 21 May and likely occurred between 5pm and 7am the night before.
Forest Fire Management Victoria Yarra District Manager Nigel Brennan said if anyone has any information about this offence or any illegal forest activity such as dumping waste, they should report it to the team straight away.
“State Forests are for everybody to enjoy, the Warburton community take great pride in their local forests and has worked hard as a community to keep them in a pristine condition. When someone decides to dump rubbish in our state forests it is the local community who use it who are impacted the most,” he said
“When you illegally dump waste, you may think that you’re saving yourself a trip to the tip and a fee, but what you are really doing is contributing to the degradation of our environment, and costing taxpayers over $30 million each year in clean-up costs.”
Unlawful waste dumping can attract significant penalties, with infringements ranging from $363 to $1,817 for individuals, and $1,817 to $9,087 for businesses.
Warburton resident and organiser of this year’s Clean Up Warby Day Rob Eva said it is happening consistently in the area.
“Illegal dumping in the area has become a broad term Which day? Which week? Which Year? It’s continually happening out there,” he said.
“This recent one was about five metres of dirt, so was a considerable truck that dumped it and obviously a local contractor.”
The Conservation Regulator is currently seeking any information the community might have, to assist with the investigation.
Mr Eva said not a day goes by without him finding a fresh dump, whether it be pain tins or tires, loads of dirt or asbestos.
“I know a lot of people do call in they get a price from the tip in Old Warby and then they go dump it off Old Cemetary Track or up the hill,” he said.
“On Clean Up Warby Day, we pulled out about six and a half tonnes of rubbish, including 73 tires, from our seven teams. A few days later to go back up there and saee a good majority of it all back again is really depressing.”
Clean Up Warby Day focused not on the Warburton township but to target areas like Old Warburton and the Redwood Forests.
Mr Eva said he thinks reducing tip prices may be part of the solution, and alcohol cans are some of the most prevalent rubbish he sees.
“I think we’d all like to see the tip prices go down a little bit or potentially being able to have an amnesty that certain times of the year you can dump stuff. I renovated the house in Warburton and I paid literally 10s of 1000s of dollars to dump all my stuff,” he said.
“My biggest complaint is alcohol cans, everywhere you drive, anywhere around our beautiful town, there are alcohol products scattered all over the side of the road, and not just on the side of the road, even 20 metres into the bush. It happens on a daily basis.”
If anyone has any information regarding the offence at Old Warburton or other environmental crimes, they are encouraged to report it to 136 186, taking note of vehicle make, model, registration, and the time and date. Reports of illegal dumping can also be submitted to the Environment Protection Authority Victoria online at https://bit.ly/3x6pIbC or via the pollution hotline on 1300 372 842.
