A Bendigo councillor has put an urgent request through to the city to remove more than 300 tyres and 30 syringes dumped recently in a small plot of public bushland in Eaglehawk. 

Whipstick Ward councillor Peter Cox confirmed to the Bendigo Advertiser he made the request on Tuesday, calling on the public to help authorities crack down on the growing problem of illegal dumping. 

“Anyone can put in a request and I encourage residents – anybody who finds rubbish on Crown land or forested areas – to ring council straight away,” Cr Cox said. 

“The best way to deal with this is if people can become the eyes and ears of council.” 

Cr Cox encouraged Bendigonians to check mounds of dumped litter for incriminating evidence. 

“People obviously have to be careful – we know the dumping which happened at Eaglehawk had needles associated with it,” he said. 

“But the important thing is for people to have a quick look to among the rubbish as people often throw away letters or other identifying documents authorities can use to follow up with heavy fines.” 

Cr Cox said the recent incident in Eaglehawk demonstrated a “blatant disregard for responsibility”.

Related: Cox slams green waste proposal

The Crown land between York Street and McCormacks Road on which the tyres were dumped is several hundred metres from the Eaglehawk tip. 

“The landfill is there for people to take their items to deal with appropriately— so I’m very disappointed by what someone, or a group of people, have done,” he said. 

“And in that area there is evidence that dumping has been going on for quite some time.” 

Though the majority of illegal dumping occurs on Crown land, the City of Greater Bendigo set itself the target of reducing illegally dumped waste several years ago.

In its ‘Waste & Resource Management Strategy 2014–2019’, the city aimed to reduce the recorded instances of illegal dumping by 5 per cent per year over five years.

The starting point was figures from 2012/2013 in which the city received 420 notifications of illegal dumping, removed approximately 50 tonnes of waste and 240 tyres from dump sites and conducted 113 regulatory investigations.

The Bendigo Advertiser has sought comment from the City of Greater Bendigo and the Department of Water, Environment, Land and Planning.

DWELP confirmed it sent an officer to assess the site on Tuesday, but did not provide further details.