On-the-spot fines need to be tougher to combat Brimbank council’s annual half- million-dollar-plus litter bill.
In its submission to a Victorian Community and Business Waste Education Strategy, the council says the current $303 fine is not a sufficient deterrent to litterbugs.
The strategy will be developed to identify state government priorities and goals for waste education.
The council says it spends about $550,000 annually on collecting and disposing of dumped rubbish, and employing a litter prevention officer and a prosecutions officer.
Star Weekly revealed last July the clean-up figure was closer to $1 million, according to a Health and Human Services Department report.
The council also called for a new fine of $1213 for “aggravated littering” to replace the time-consuming process of compiling evidence and instigating court hearings.
Aggravated littering is when a person intentionally dumps rubbish in a public place that is likely to cause injury or damage property. These cases are heard by a magistrate.
Friends of Kororoit Creek member Jodie Williams said the council could also strengthen its own enforcement powers with undercover compliance officers.
“I think Brimbank only employs one compliance officer so he’d be spread pretty thin,” she said.
“Even if it starts as a campaign by undercover compliance officers who initially give warning notices … the public needs to know that littering is illegal in all forms and that there are penalties for not changing behaviour.”
Council’s infrastructure and environment director, Neil Whiteside, said it had issued 70 infringement notices for littering over the past nine months.
