By Laura Michell
Whittlesea council is warning that fines will be issued to people who illegally dump rubbish around the municipality.
The council was recently called on to clean up bags full of rubbish, dumped packing boxes and discarded building supplies that had been strewn across a Wollert street.
Mayor Lawrie Cox said the council took action against the rubbish dumpers, fining two people. Cr Cox said residents were tired of their neighbours leaving a mess for others to clean up.
“Unfortunately, there is a small group of people … who seem to think it’s OK to leave their rubbish for someone else to deal with,” he said. “It makes the area look unsightly and if council has to clean it up, it means an unnecessary cost to ratepayers.”
Whittlesea residents caught dumping rubbish face on-the-spot fines of $342 plus clean-up costs or could be taken to court.
The council has portable CCTV cameras which are set up in rubbish dumping hot spots, while a litter prevention officer has also been employed to tackle the issue.
“We will not tolerate this behaviour and will investigate reports of dumped rubbish,” Cr Cox said.
