Rubbish A Growing Problem At Torquay Drop-off Point

Rubbish a growing problem at Torquay drop-off point

A WASTE drop-off point in Messmate Road is becoming Torquay’s dirty little secret, with concerns it is being exploited by lazy residents and businesses.

The 24-hour site, which is managed by the Surf Coast Shire, is regularly cleared by Cleanaway but quickly fills up again with rubbish, which occasionally blows away and lands in the surrounding grassland.

Torquay resident Jodie Oliver has been keeping an eye on the drop-off point for about six months, and said she has been corresponding with the shire without success to improve how the site is run.

“It’s totally being exploited, and it’s unmanageable,” she said.

“I just find it a complete disaster; I think they should close it down.”

There are clear signs that state “drop off point for holiday home owners and non-permanent residents only”, “no hard rubbish”, “no waste from businesses” and “do not dump rubbish on the ground”, but this is being openly ignored.

There was a large pile of rubbish lying on the ground when the Surf Coast Times visited on Monday, with hard rubbish such as an infant’s car seat, a portable toilet and a table clearly visible.

“I’ve gone through the rubbish and most of it is from businesses. A lot of businesses drop off here, tradies drop off here,” Ms Oliver said.

“A lot of locals come out here too, I know some of them, and I’ve said ‘what are you doing?’ and they’ve said ‘We can’t afford the tip fees’.

“The other thing I keep hearing is ‘the council should provide a better service in town’ but I keep saying you’ve got your own bins, you’ve just got to manage your rubbish.

“Why should some ratepayers do the right thing and some don’t?”

There are CCTV cameras at the drop-off point, which the shire says it has recently upgraded, but Ms Oliver said they were ineffectual as the shire had not issued one fine for illegal dumping in six months.

In response to questions from the Surf Coast Times, shire general manager of governance and infrastructure Anne Howard said people have “unfortunately been using the facility as a free dumping location for waste of all description, some of which could have been disposed free of charge at the council’s transfer stations”.

“Council also provides one hard waste voucher per property each year for free disposal of one cubic metre of hard waste at council facilities.”