'Disrespectful': Mayor slams illegal rubbish dumping

City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said rubbish dumping in Ballarat had been an issue for "long, long time."

"Some people just deliberately go and choose to do the wrong thing," he said.

While Ballarat does not have hard waste collection, it does offer two vouchers per household for the Transfer Station.

There are other councils, such as Greater Bendigo, which also don't offer hard rubbish collection.

To compare, to dispose a mattress at the Ballarat Transfer Station costs $31, and Bendigo Transfer Station costs $27.50.

Councils like Greater City of Geelong offer residential properties two hard waste and two mattress collections each financial year which have to be booked by the resident.

Transfer fees for general waste at Geelong are $87 per cubic metre.

Warrnambool City Council don't offer its ratepayers hard waste collection or offer any vouchers.

Ballarat's station costs $81 per cubic metre of general waste - in Bendigo, costs for general waste disposal is broken down into size, for example by car load or trailer load - a car load is $22.50 sorted, $48 unsorted.

In the 2023-24 annual budget, the Ballarat council decreased some fees to use the transfer station.

General waste fees per cubic metre were decreased by 10.9 per cent.

Over the past five years, costs to use the transfer station have had some increases for dropping off waste.

The largest was in 2023-24, when whitegoods disposal per unit increased from $11 to $19.5, a 77 per cent increase, however while it will increase again in the 2024-25 financial year, it will only jump by 2.5 per cent, up t0 $20.

Mattress, white goods and general waste disposal will all increase in 2024-25 by a maximum of three per cent.

The cost of disposing hard waste (mattresses, whitegoods and furniture) or any other material in Gillies Street Transfer Station is calculated every year according to the Consumer Price Index.

Cost increases and the levy payment fee in the landfill is determined by the Environment Protection Authority.

Cr Hudson said illegal dumping was 'disrespectful' to the people who do the right thing.

"I understand there is a price point that needs to be looked at, but it is what we are being charged as well by other levels when we're disposing of the rubbish," he said.

Cr Hudson said dumping a car load or trailer load of rubbish in the natural environment can be "really destructive".

All illegally dumped rubbish is investigated by the City of Ballarat, with potential prosecution possible.

Ballarat council's infrastructure and environment director Bridget Wetherall said while there was no increase in the amount of illegal rubbish dumping, it was an ongoing concern.

"The street cleaning team is also responsible for collecting illegal rubbish dumping which takes valuable resources away from their primary role of beautifying Ballarat," she said.

"Illegally dumped rubbish ultimately results in higher costs for City of Ballarat ratepayers, as rectifying the dumping is factored into how our annual waste levy is calculated."

To tackle cost concerns given the current cost-of-living crisis and impact of illegal rubbish dumping, the council has initiatives such as half-price mattress week and free green waste week.