By Danielle Kutchel
Rubbish is filling ditches and hedges along Golf Links Road in Narre Warren – and residents and drivers have had enough.
Lorraine, who has lived in the area for over a decade, said she didn’t think there had ever been a time when she hadn’t seen rubbish littering the drive along Golf Links between Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road and Fleetwood Drive.
“There are often larger pieces that should go out in hard rubbish, such as mattresses, furniture, or building/construction types of rubbish,” she said.
“I believe the council is aware of the problem, but short of having it manned 24/7 or cameras monitoring the road all the time I can’t see the problem ending.”
Similarly, Corinne, a former resident of the area who still drives along Golf Links Road regularly, said there is “always all kinds of rubbish being dumped there”.
“I reported it a few times but it seems to be an ongoing issue that just isn’t being sorted,” she said.
She added that the lack of traffic and isolated setting of the road, between the backs of houses and the wetlands, make it an easy target for rubbish dumping.
Meanwhile, local resident Jacki said she couldn’t understand the mentality of people who litter.
“I was shocked when I moved here that people in general tend to not care about litter around here, but Golf Links Road is the worst,” she said.
All three residents agree that something should be done to combat the dumping – whether that be cameras placed along the road, police patrols, or an awareness campaign run by the council.
“At the very least, it should be cleaned up more regularly,” Jacki said.
Michael Jansen, manager sustainability and waste at the City of Casey, said the council had inspected the road and “found evidence of dumped rubbish”.
“Clean-up activities, which will require traffic management, have been scheduled,” he said.
“We have used cameras in the general area previously, but no cameras have been in this location recently.”
He said litter prevention officers were active around the City of Casey using strategies like cameras, proactive patrols and investigations of dumping.
“We strongly encourage residents to use the online report form at www.casey.vic.gov.au/litter to notify us of any dumped rubbish or littering they witness,” he said.
