Costly choice: Man ordered to pay more than $6000 for illegal dumping

Published on 12 May 2025

A Mount Martha man has been ordered to pay $6271.67 for illegally dumping waste in Tuerong. Had he disposed of these items correctly,it wouldn’t have cost him a cent.

Last year, one of our Litter Prevention Officers visited a property in Mount Martha that had a large amount of waste out the front. Our officer advised the occupant to book a hard waste collection and bring the items back onto their property in the meantime. Before leaving, the officer taped the items, which included two washing machines and a tumble dryer, with Shire’s signature yellow and black tape.

A couple of weeks later, the same officer was on patrol in Tuerong when he had a déjà vu moment. There, along Tuerong Road, were the same items still wrapped in Shire tape. In the following weeks, the same offender was identified by covert CCTV dumping waste in Moorooduc.

The Mount Martha man was summonsed to appear the Dromana magistrates Court in January on four charges relating to breaches of the Environmental Protection Act 2017 and the unlawful deposit of waste. The Magistrate found the man guilty with conviction and he was fined an aggregate of $1,500, on all charges, and ordered to pay costs of $4,771.67, a combined total of $6271.67.

Most of the waste the offender dumped was recyclable and would have been free to dispose of at any of our resource recovery centres. The non-recyclable material would have fit in his general rubbish bin, had he chosen the legal and responsible option.

Numerous household items are free to dispose of at our resource recovery centres – probably more than you think. Check the full list at mornpen.vic.gov.au/recycling.

Dob in a dumper
If you witness or have any information of unlawful waste dumping activity on the Peninsula, please report it online at mornpen.vic.gov.au/dobinadumper or use the Snap Send Solve app.

Quote attributable to Mayor Councillor Anthony Marsh:
“Each year, the Shire spends approximately $600,000 removing dumped waste – ratepayer money that could have been spent on community infrastructure or other worthy initiatives.

“Residents, including renters, get four tip tickets each year. These can be used to book a hard waste collection from your nature strip.”