By Eleanor Wilson
A Harkaway resident claims green waste illegally dumped in Harkaway is creating road safety and bushfire risks, endangering the community.
Resident David Wilkinson said the waste, which mainly comprises mulch and fragmented building material, is at the intersection of Noack and Harkaway Roads and is situated near a water storage tank utilised by the CFA.
Mr Wilkinson claims businesses have been dumping material in piles at the location for many years, which he says creates a fire hazard.
“We live in a high risk bushfire area…during the fire season itself it’s a hazard having that amount of flammable material there,” Mr Wilkinson said.
He alleges the businesses remove street safety signs at the intersection in order to deposit the waste, posing a safety risk to motorists.
He said a lack of action by the City of Casey pushed him to take matters into his own hands, removing mulch and reinstating street safety signs in his personal time.
“Illegal dumping of waste in the area is an ongoing problem and not one that can be easily solved and I am sympathetic to those responsible within the City of Casey for having to manage the problem,” he said.
But Mr Wilkinson said he has reported the problem to the City of Casey many times over several years but the council had failed to resolve the matter.
“The council will send us notices to clean up our own gardens in preparation for fire season, yet when I notify them of a risk here they fail to act.
“To their credit, the council often do remove a lot of hard waste rubbish, but when it comes to green waste they just seem to turn a blind eye.
“Because its Harkaway, it’s out of sight out of mind. I think if it was outside the council offices, they’d have it cleaned up immediately, but for some reason we seem to be low priority.”
In a statement, City of Casey sustainability and waste manager Michael Jansen said the council is aware that mulch has been dumped at the location.
“Council has not given anyone the authority to leave mulch at this location; we have unfortunately been unable to identify those responsible,” Mr Jansen said.
“We have arranged for the mulch to be removed and processed at a recycling facility, and are working with the CFA to find a solution, including potentially installing bollards to restrict public access to the location.”
Despite the concern, Berwick CFA Captain Craig Sanderson said the illegal dumping had not presented a significant issue for the brigade.
“It’s been happening for many years now…very rarely does it ever get in the way for us,” Capt Sanderson daid.
As for the fire risk the green waste presents, Mr Sanderson said the brigade keeps a close eye on the material, particularly over summer months, to ensure it doesn’t pose a danger.
He said he was personally unaware of communication with the City of Casey regarding the issue.
