Council will continue to crack down on illegal dumping with an improved surveillance program thanks to a $50,000 state government grant.
This comes as a large load of rubbish was discovered on the fringe of the Noosa National Park this week, illegally dumped and burnt.
Manager Waste and Environmental Health, Wayne Schafer said the find was disturbing, especially in the wake of the bushfire crisis.
“It’s bad enough someone dumped the rubbish in our beautiful forest, but to think that they actually lit it up is distressing given the magnitude of the bushfire season we’ve just had.
“It’s a miracle it didn’t ignite the entire National Park,” Mr Schafer said.The grant will go towards increasing surveillance and monitoring programs to help catch those dumping waste in parks and bushland around the shire.
“Unfortunately it’s one of those issues that every local council faces, where a minority of people prefer to dump their rubbish in bushland than take it to landfill or recycling facilities.
“Illegal dumping costs ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars every year. We are grateful the state government has recognised this issue and has chipped in to help us combat it.”
Member for Noosa Sandy Bolton said the funding was integral to keeping the dumpers on their toes.
“This is a nation-wide issue and something that most councils need to keep on top of.
“It’s imperative that we continue to preserve the parks and bushland in Noosa, and this grant will further assist council in their efforts to minimise this problem.”
Mr Schafer said the funding will take surveillance to new heights.
“We have invested in equipment and technology to make sure these illegal dumpers will be caught.
“The unfortunate fact is that some of the dumped material is things like metal, cardboard and old whitegoods which can all be taken to our local landfill for free.”
Mr Schafer encourages locals to dob in a dumper if they see it happening around the shire.
“At the most recent local kerbside collection we had people doing the wrong thing by dumping large amounts of asbestos and toxic material in our neighbourhoods, and locals notified us straight away.
“Kerbside collection is a service Council provides to help residents in the shire, but last year’s collection ended up costing us greatly as we had to go in and clean-up the illegal dumping.
“With this funding we’ll be able to up our game and really clean up the problematic dumping to preserve our beautiful natural areas, and hopefully catch the culprits in the process.”
