Pub Test: Is it right for Council to charge a tip fee for rubbish found dumped in the bush, by one of our rivers or streams or in one of our local reserves?
Andrew Nader of Moruya is not alone in his concerns that more and more rubbish is being dumped in our local forests and reserves.
Andrew has already spent around $1000 on tip fees for loads he has recovered from the bush that includes anything from household garbage to mattresses and furniture.
Some of the larger loads have incurred a fee approaching $60.
Andrew spends most weekends travelling around the Eurobodalla Shire cleaning up other people’s rubbish dumped in the bush.
He loves doing it and has never asked for help.
Currently Eurobodalla Council is conducting its annual Household Hard Waste cleanup
What won't be collected are motor vehicle parts, tyres, building materials (soil, bricks, rubble, stones, steel)renovation waste, glass, mattresses, liquids (paints, petrol, oil), hazardous materials, e-waste (TVs, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, stereos, DVD & video players, laptops, gaming machines, set-top boxes, other plastic electronics with screens, circuit boards, toner cartridges or inbuilt rechargeable batteries.
So it is not at all surprising to learn that the above list is what Andrew discovers dumped in the bush by those who might not wish to pay tip fees. Mattresses are a common find because they cost $34 to dump.
Andrew is also dismayed at the increase in roadside litter and walks lengths of road at a time collecting what has been thrown out of vehicle windows or has come off the backs of utes and trucks.
He was surprised to hear that Council has a limited contract with the RMS to collect roadside rubbish on the Kings Highway however the funding for this is quickly absorbed by the required (and essential) traffic control to ensure the safety of workers.
The same stringent requirements are placed on the Princes Highway under the control of the RMS.
Picking up roadside litter has become very expensive and with the rate that Australians thrown garbage out their windows it appears to also becoming a futile, no win exercise.
Even "Clean Up Australia Day" does not permit volunteers to pick up rubbish on any road side with a speed of 60kph or over.
This means the only citizens like Andrew, collecting road side rubbish, are doing it at their own risk.
Above: another mattress from J Tree Road which is one of the many favoured dumping locations for those who don't want to pay tip fees.
Undaunted by the tip fees Andrew will be pressing on hoping that his efforts might also encourage others to collect rubbish if they can or at the very least report it to Council for their action.
To help Andrew fund the tip fees he has to pay Council for the garbage he finds while out enjoying our coastal reserves and hinterland his family have organised a Go-fund me page
that has raise $452 to date. Andrew has advised that the Mayor, Liz Innes, has contacted him and offered a donation of $150 from her Mayoral Fund which hopefully be committed shortly to bolster his campaign.
Click HERE or on the link above to donate to Andrew's fund so he can pay Council tip fees for the rubbish he collects from reserves and forest roads to keep Eurobodalla "Natural"
