A Byford resident has come out saying he could understand why there had been incidents of illegal dumping in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale in the past few weeks.
Michael Ricketts said the absence of tip passes was one of the main reasons for the increase in illegal dumping incidents.
“I hate littering,” he said.
“I don’t know why people do it but when the shire took away our tip passes I can understand why it’s happening.”
Some of the main areas targeted by illegal dumpers included Nettleton Road and trails including the Jarrahdale Railway Trail.
Shire president John Erren said tip passes were not issued with rates notices effective for the 2014-15 financial year.
Mr Ricketts said the increase in cost to clean up illegal dumping sites was a strain on ratepayers with shire records showing in the financial year 2013-14 costs were $83,000 to clean up compared to 2016-17, which increased to $170,000.
Mr Ricketts claimed the cost increase coincided with the removal of tip passes but Mr Erren said the reason they were taken away was because very few residents actually used them.
“This was to save residents’ money on their annual rubbish fees,” he said.
“Residents are able to purchase tip passes at the Armadale landfill facility at their own discretion meaning that only those residents using the facility will need to pay for passes rather than residents paying for passes that they will not use.”
Mr Erren said as part of the shire’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement it was investigating alternative waste options.
He said some of the considerations included the replacement of verge side bulk pickup services with on demand bulk bins and investigating the development of its own waste disposal facility.
“The shire is the fastest growing local government in the country,” he said.
“Despite the pressures associated with this hyper growth combined with the large area of the district we are the lowest rating council in our area.”
