By JODIE SYMONDS
INCREASED tip fees could be to blame for a Mount Evelyn roadside being used as a dumping ground.
Angry resident Katie Barber, who walks along the road weekly, said she was devastated that the area was being used to dump rubbish.
She said plastic chairs, scrap wood and household waste had been left at the roadside, causing the area to look dirty.
While she said it was no excuse, she said higher council rates and tip fees could be the reason why people felt the need to not use tip facilities available to them.
“They’re scum, that’s what they are,” Ms Barber said.
“It definitely brings down the area and makes it look disgusting.
“We bought here a year ago because of its greenery and how beautiful it is, but this just makes the place look scummy.”
Gobsmacked that perpetrators would not need to pay for the clean-up if they weren’t found, Ms Barber said that it was unfair ratepayers had to foot the bill.
Tip fees at Coldstream can cost up to $75 for a small wagon.
Waste tipping fees are expected to rise a further 10 per cent after the State Government increased the levy to dispose of waste at landfill.
“It’s an easy option for them. They don’t have to pay money to have the rubbish disposed of, so they harm our environment,” she said.
“I don’t understand why hard rubbish in Mount Evelyn is once a year.
“I pay my rates and I’m not a high earner, so why should they get away with this?”
Ms Barber said the pile of rubbish was an eyesore and she was worried that tourists travelling from the Upper Yarra along the Warburton Trail would think that Mount Evelyn was a dirty town.
“Who knows what they will think of us when they see this,” she said.
“It makes me angry because I’m not a dirty person but this sends the wrong message about how we live to people visiting the area.”
Ms Barber said the mess set a bad example to young people at the nearby pony club and it would make them more likely to dump rubbish themselves.
Ms Barber informed Yarra Ranges Council of the issue last Monday.
The Mail contacted Yarra Ranges Council however it failed to provide a statement before deadline.
