Illegal dumpers fined in court

Published on 21 June 2023

Two men who illegally dumped household waste in Coimadai have been fined $13,000 plus clean-up costs after Council successfully had them prosecuted in the Ballarat Magistrates Court.

The court case, which has been going since September last year, finished last Friday, with the judge finding in favour of Council. The court fined one of the men $5000 and $5000 in legal fees and the other $8000 and $440 legal fees. Both were ordered to pay clean-up costs of $12,284. The men both recorded convictions.

Council was alerted to a massive amount of household goods and rubbish being dumped on the side of Reservoir Rd, Coimadai in January 2022. Evidence from the rubbish led Council to two residents from a neighbouring shire who told Council they had paid a rubbish removal service to clean up and dispose of a large amount of rubbish from their home. An investigation proved this to be the case.

After several court adjournments, the determination was made last Friday (16/6), despite the defendants not being in court.

“This is a great outcome for preserving the health of our communities and the integrity of our natural assets,” Acting CEO Caroline Buisson said.

“We hope this deters others from illegally dumping goods on Moorabool’s roadways, state parks or anywhere rubbish doesn’t belong.”

Illegal dumping of materials, whether household, building materials, chemicals or general waste, costs Council about $80,000 a year to clean up, so we encourage any residents who see it occurring to contact Council.

Residents are reminded not to search through the rubbish to see who it belongs to as this can hinder any legal proceedings.

There is more information on illegal dumping on our website: moorabool.vic.gov.au/dumping