In the Mount Alexander Shire it goes on as well – you name it, it’s dumped – not to speak of the noxious weeds which, once they have taken hold, are very hard to eradicate. At the last Mount Alexander Shire’s budgeting strategy I put a submission to council outlining exactly the same concerns as in this article.

I asked for ratepayers to be provided two to five free tip tickets, as we were given years ago, in the hope this would help stop some of the dumping.

When you have pensioners and other low-income people living in our communities, the outrageous charges to dispose of rubbish at the local tip encourages dumping. But I suppose Bendigo’s council is like Mount Alexander’s –  not very smart when it comes to gaining respect from ratepayers, whereby throwing the occasional bone to ratepayers is too easy by far. 

The cost to councils and Parks Victoria must be in the tens of thousands to retrieve dumped rubbish – I would like to see some statistics on the cost to the taxpayer and ratepayer. 

Surely providing two to five free tip tickets per household would be cheaper in the long run? But my experience in dealing with the council on this very subject was very disheartening, and the off-hand approach by the senior staff was appalling. 

The City of Greater Bendigo must be the same as ours. Ask for free tipping tickets, you won’t get them. It’s a different time, different mob in power these days.

?Bill Bayliss

?Chewton