{"id":126498,"date":"2026-01-29T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=126498"},"modified":"2026-01-28T18:45:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:45:54","slug":"dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>COUNCIL crews are spending almost half their workday cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish, as a surge in dumping incidents across Greater Geelong leaves ratepayers footing a growing bill.<\/p>\n<p>City of Greater Geelong maintenance staff Maycee and Josh say the problem has spiralled out of control, with dumping recurring at the same sites within days.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We clean it up and then there&#8217;s more there tomorrow \u2013 it&#8217;s out of hand,&#8221; Josh said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sometimes it might be furniture and mattresses, but then other times it can be really nasty like needles, dirty nappies. There&#8217;s even been bottles of urine. It&#8217;s been really disgusting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve gone out of their way to dump their rubbish and we&#8217;re cleaning it up. When it&#8217;s really dirty, like needles, it feels kind of like an attack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the duo cleaned up hazardous materials dumped in the middle of the road, just three houses up from a school.<\/p>\n<p>Cleaning up illegally dumped items, Josh said, now consumes half the workday and takes crews away from their usual community maintenance tasks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We could have been fixing signs and making a lot of things safer,&#8221; Josh said.<\/p>\n<p>Council data confirms the scale of the issue is accelerating.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024-25, the city received 6,620 requests to remove dumped rubbish. Already this financial year, more than 3,000 requests have been lodged, continuing a year-on-year rise since 2021.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/MayceeandJoshwiththe_77471.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maycee and Josh from the City of Greater Geelong&#8217;s roadside maintenance team beside their work truck, which they use daily to remove illegally dumped rubbish across the municipality. Photo: SUPPLIED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The city said these clean-up efforts are costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said illegal dumping was placing an unfair burden on the community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Infuriating is an understatement \u2013 illegal dumping is a despicable act.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These people are spoiling the environment for everyone, and it costs an absolute fortune to go and pick up after them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By working together, we send a clear message that dumping will not be tolerated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Recent incidents include a large quantity of illegally dumped commercial waste along Beach Road in Avalon that blocked private access to a local farm. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>You Yangs Ward councillor Chris Burson urged Geelong residents to report dumped rubbish to the city.<\/p>\n<p>Every report, he said, makes a difference.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you see rubbish dumping, take a photo, record a licence plate and please let us know.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Illegal waste dumping is unsightly, dangerous, and a waste of council resources and ratepayer money.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We need the community&#8217;s help to hold these illegal dumpers accountable and keep our city safe and clean.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maycee said many dumping incidents could be avoided if residents made use of the city&#8217;s free hard rubbish services.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure if people realise, but you get two free hard waste bookings and two free mattress collections every year&#8221; Maycee said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All you have to do is go online, fill in your details, and they will come and pick it up for free.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dumped rubbish can be reported to the City of Greater Geelong via phone, online or email, while hard waste and mattress collections can be booked through its website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COUNCIL crews are spending almost half their workday cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish, as a surge in dumping incidents across Greater Geelong leaves ratepayers footing a growing bill. City of Greater Geelong maintenance staff Maycee and Josh say the problem has spiralled out of control, with dumping recurring at the same sites within days. &#8220;We [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":126499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-126498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ellie Claringbold\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff\"},\"headline\":\"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":548,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"City Works crew members Maycee and Josh say illegal dumping now takes up a significant part of their workday, pulling them away from routine maintenance and safety tasks. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"width\":248,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Geelong Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff\",\"name\":\"Ellie Claringbold\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ellie Claringbold\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/author\\\/ellie\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times","description":"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times","og_description":"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/","og_site_name":"Geelong Times","article_published_time":"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ellie Claringbold","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ellie Claringbold","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/"},"author":{"name":"Ellie Claringbold","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff"},"headline":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill","datePublished":"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/"},"wordCount":548,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/","name":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill - Geelong Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-28T17:00:00+00:00","description":"Geelong illegal dumping surges, costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands as council crews spend half their day on clean-ups.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-25-2.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"City Works crew members Maycee and Josh say illegal dumping now takes up a significant part of their workday, pulling them away from routine maintenance and safety tasks. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/dumping-surge-leaves-ratepayers-footing-the-bill\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dumping surge leaves ratepayers footing the bill"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","name":"Geelong Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization","name":"Geelong Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","width":248,"height":37,"caption":"Geelong Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff","name":"Ellie Claringbold","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dcd91a2add82ecaedf8722c8c44c7bf9cd7be0f12939f097b32bc1e405ab8d89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ellie Claringbold"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/author\/ellie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126498"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=126498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}