Singleton rubbishes illegal dumping following $30,000 clean up

Published on 16 July 2024

A 42 tonne haul of illegally-dumped waste at a site on Wattle Ponds Road in Singleton Heights has reignited calls for people to consider their impact on the community and the environment when disposing of rubbish.

The cost to clean up the piles of mixed waste including whitegoods, furniture, household garbage, car bodies, car parts, building rubble and construction waste dumped between Wattle Ponds Road and Bridgman Road has been estimated at $30,000 and took three days to complete.

But Katie Hardy, Council’s Acting Director Infrastructure and Planning, said worse still was that the bushland site was surrounded by residential homes.

“Council’s rangers respond to up to 100 reports of illegal dumping a year, and the clean up costs our community tens of thousands of dollars that could be better spent on facilities and services to support local residents,” she said.

“The case on Wattle Ponds Road alone added up to about $30,000, accounting for the cost of machinery that needed to be brought in and Singleton Waste Management Facility fees.

“Financial impacts are one thing. Another is that piles of waste dumped in our natural environment and on our kerbsides are unsightly, harmful to human health, encourage vermin and turn residential areas—where children might play—into rubbish tips.”

Ms Hardy said while incidents of kerbside waste and illegal dumping were typically blamed on waste management facility fees, Singleton Council offered a range of programs to support residents to dispose of or re-use unwanted items for free.

“We’re working together with our community to minimise the volume of waste that goes into landfill through initiatives like the Burragan Recycling Shop, free tyre and mattress drop off days, and the Community Recycling Centre at the Waste Management Facility which accepts a range of items including electronic waste, oils, plastics, paper and cardboard, and polystyrene,” she said.

“Ratepayers will also receive their new waste vouchers in the coming months and this year’s bulk waste collection is scheduled from 4 November to 13 December, when residents can dispose of general household bulky waste, dismantled swing sets and trampolines, scrap metal, degassed whitegoods, and furniture.

“As well as these measures, Council’s rangers are now also better equipped with new technology to undertake 24-hour surveillance in problem areas and we encourage anyone who sees incidents of illegal dumping to report it to RIDonline so that we can keep our local environment clean and safe for everyone.”

Report illegal dumping

Council's free waste initiatives