JIM FAGAN
Fed up with people befouling the bush with household goods and rubbish, Noosa Council law officers are stepping up their patrols and monitoring illegal dumping spots.
And the old days of apprehended first timers being warned and told to clean it up are over. “There’s no such thing as a Get Out of Jail Free card anymore,” Council CEO, Brett de Chastel told Noosa Today. “We’re ramping up our patrols and prosecuting to the full extent of the legislation.” Penalties under the State’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 are severe. Dumping domestic items like washing machines, garden waste or construction leftovers, depending on volume, can bring fines ranging from $1,760 to $110,000 and if you cause serious environmental harm and fail to clean it up then expect to pay $220,000 if it goes to court. Clearly, deciding not to go to the tip can be very expensive. Clean Up Australia Day is this Sunday and Noosa co-ordinator, Councillor Joe Jurisevic, said before amalgamation his volunteers used to collect about two tonnes of rubbish each Clean Up Day “and then the Sunshine Coast Council discontinued kerbside clean ups. Each year I’ve seen the rubbish increase. From two tonnes, it became four then six and last year we cleaned up nine tonnes. That was phenomenal.” Noosa Council will resume kerbside collections in April and Joe is hoping illegal dumping will be reduced but “you will still have people saying, ‘I’m not going to take this to the tip. I object to the price of it. I’d rather dump it in the bush.’ It’s hard to believe but there’s one particular dump site which is used regularly and it’s less than a kilometre from the tip. “The dumpers don’t see there’s a cost to the environment, to our community and a cost to ratepayers to rectify it.” Noosa Today asked the council’s co-ordinator of waste management, Wayne Schafer, how much it cost to take white goods and other domestic items to the council tip on Eumundi Road. This may surprise some illegal dumpers but there is a great deal that costs absolutely nothing. “Stoves, washing machines, those sorts of things are free. We require refrigerators to be de-gassed. If they’re not de-gassed, we charge $15 to do the job. Any of the whitegoods in your home that have lots of metal in them are free at the dump. We take car bodies, gas bottles that have no gas, anything that has lots of metal. “We also take cardboard for free as well as recyclable material you would put in your recyclable bin at home. “We don’t charge for household quantities of oil and chemicals. If you’ve done an oil change in your car and you have four litres of oil we’ll accept that. Pesticides and paint, provided they’re secured, we will take them for free. “We have a dump shop there and they are happy to accept reusable items. There are lots of savings for people.”
