15 August 2013

ACT Government wants to know who keeps dumping stuff

| Barcham
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Time to fess up. Which one of you has been illegally dumping stuff?

Apparently cleaning up illegally disposed of rubbish cost the Government $1.4 million last year, so it’s understandable why they’re a bit miffed.

“Our city rangers responded to nearly 500 reports of illegal dumping and littering last financial year, a figure which we hope will be reduced over the next year,” Jane Carder, Manager, Place Management, City Services said today.

“We are serious about finding and charging the people who are responsible for illegally

disposing of rubbish.”

The most common kinds of illegally dumped rubbish found by city rangers include construction materials, abandoned vehicles, garden clippings and household goods.

“Littering is another problem we face. It is the most visible sign of pollution and remains a major environmental issue, especially through the build up of litter we see from people throwing food wrappers and cigarettes out of car windows,” Ms Carder said.

“I encourage people who witness or know of illegal dumping and littering, to report them via the form available at www.tams.act.gov.au.

“When reporting these acts, the following information helps us to successfully find and

prosecute the responsible person:

• street location of illegal dumping/littering

• type of material dumped/littered, and whether you believe its constitutes a hazard

• date and time of dumping/littering

• associated vehicle, registration number

• photograph of the incident(s) may assist the prosecution

• contact details for any witness.

“People found guilty of littering will be fined between $60 and $200, while illegal dumping related fines can be as high as $5000.

“In the last financial year, over $11,000 worth of fines were issued for littering.

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Rollersk8r said :

So then give us green waste collection and “council clean up day” for large items – like they have in most other cities!

And not just big cities, either; the Eurobodalla Shire Council provides these things in very small villages at the coast.

500 incidents cost $1.4 million? Who’s charging the government $2800 every time they pick up an illegally dumped trailer load of garbage. I’ve got a truck and a good pair of gloves. If anyone from TAMS is reading this, I’ll do it for $1400 per incident. I’ll even pay tip fees out of that so you get $100 back.

I found a dump pile once that was nothing but old beer cans, odd bits of paper and a lot of dirty, brown nappies. It was a stinking, ugly mess .. So it’s not always something that ending tip fees or having collection days would stop. Some people are just nothing short of feral.

Rollersk8r said :

So then give us green waste collection and “council clean up day” for large items – like they have in most other cities!

+1

Would it cost the ACT Gov $1.4m to put on a ‘council cleanup day’? I think not.

It is hard to believe that tip fees are an accurate indicator of actual costs that Govco expends to bury the rubbish. But I suspect the Theiss/Remondis/Cleanaway’s of this world are laughing all the way to the bank.

Deref said :

It isn’t me. I dutifully take my stuff to the tip. A couple of weeks ago I took a half-trailerload, half of which was recyclable and placed in the appropriate recycle piles, the rest (not much at all) went into the rubbish. I was charged $30 for the privilege.

That doesn’t excuse dumping, but I can understand why people do it.

Make the dump cheap and people won’t be motivated to break the law.

Deref said :

That doesn’t excuse dumping, but I can understand why people do it.

What i understand is that there needs to be a crackdown on the pigs that think it’s ok to dump their rubbish wherever they like.

It isn’t me. I dutifully take my stuff to the tip. A couple of weeks ago I took a half-trailerload, half of which was recyclable and placed in the appropriate recycle piles, the rest (not much at all) went into the rubbish. I was charged $30 for the privilege.

That doesn’t excuse dumping, but I can understand why people do it.

This has been driving me mad lately. For the last 3 months some looser has been dumping macca’s waste all up my quiet street in Calwell, you can follow their trip for half a k! First the chip packet, then the burger wrappers then the drink container finished up by the bag. It happens at least every 2 days, its not being cleaned up and at this stage their rubbish alone could fill a wheelie bin and its now scattered everywhere. They even stoop as low as tossing it in peoples otherwise tidy yards. If I catch them in the act I will quietly start collecting it all in a big garbage bin and return it to them.

On the same topic, has anyone walked around the Tuggeranong Lake lately? Particularly near the collage! You don’t need to do a case study to identify the primary source of food for many students… here is a hint, It starts with Mc. I would even go as far to say that there is a link between that place and my street.

Now for a real rant!
To add to this, go for a drive behind Hume, Fyshwick or Corin forest and whiteness the copious amounts of industrial garbage like the discarded insulation from copper wiring, building materials etc, you will even find those mattresses, TV’s, washing machines and children’s play equipment . What really annoys me is that the only answer rangers can come up with is “lock it up with a yellow gate” they will spend thousands on installing those gates and that changes nothing accept where the garbage is dumped in that area. I say spend the money catching those low life scum and stop restricting access to places for the rest of us. Use those cameras they install to fine peeved 4wders who cut open the above mentioned gates to monitor utes arriving with garbage and leaving with none. Yeah, im a 4wd enthusiast and I love my country.

watto23 said :

tim_c said :

…cleaning up illegally disposed of rubbish cost the Government $1.4 million last year…

I wonder how that compares to the net revenue generated from tip fees? I’m sure I heard some people saying this would happen if/when the ACT Government started charging tip fees.

But without tip fees we’d all be paying for it in higher rates. However as usual only those that are decent members of society end up paying. Still i went to the dump the other week and was charge $12. Seriously if you have that much stuff to dump then you should be able to afford to pay. A lot of the specialist stuff is free like e-waste, paints, tyres, batteries etc. Matresses are not and are $6 a pop, i wonder how often these get dumped to avoid paying $6!

That is the rate for a boot full or half a trailer. It adds up pretty quick when you are a sporting group who needs to clear out the rubbish people have dumped on your grounds at $23 for a full trailer. It very quickly gets into the hundreds of dollars and we don’t make enough to keep paying that. Of course the response from Government/council is ‘your land, you problem’.

So then give us green waste collection and “council clean up day” for large items – like they have in most other cities!

tim_c said :

…cleaning up illegally disposed of rubbish cost the Government $1.4 million last year…

I wonder how that compares to the net revenue generated from tip fees? I’m sure I heard some people saying this would happen if/when the ACT Government started charging tip fees.

But without tip fees we’d all be paying for it in higher rates. However as usual only those that are decent members of society end up paying. Still i went to the dump the other week and was charge $12. Seriously if you have that much stuff to dump then you should be able to afford to pay. A lot of the specialist stuff is free like e-waste, paints, tyres, batteries etc. Matresses are not and are $6 a pop, i wonder how often these get dumped to avoid paying $6!

I remember Canberra being a lot cleaner than it is now, during the 80s and early 90s.

Was it because there was an endless federal fund to keep the place clean (if so, what was spent and being done?) or is it because we have a larger populace, or just more people who don’t give a toss?

It’s just not the rubbish that looks untidy, the unkempt public places covered with weeds and graffiti, plus rundown fixtures doesn’t make for a pleasant place either.

…cleaning up illegally disposed of rubbish cost the Government $1.4 million last year…

I wonder how that compares to the net revenue generated from tip fees? I’m sure I heard some people saying this would happen if/when the ACT Government started charging tip fees.

Dob in a dumper. That would make for an interesting log(o)..

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