A gold detectorist says he is heartbroken to see the massive amount of illegal rubbish piling up in Australian bushland where he frequently ventures.
Dave Henty-Wilson, a semi-retired aviation engineer, enjoys gold detecting and frequently visits bushland in the Bendigo area of northern and central Victoria.
Lately, he has noticed rubbish piling up and says he has found about a dozen separate dumping spots this year, around Wellsford Forest and near Bendigo Airport.
“It really breaks your heart, and you see all these piles of rubbish stuck there… it’s an eyesore,” he told Yahoo News.
“It’s just very disappointing when you come across it, and it seems to be growing.
“I saw probably about a dozen piles this year.”
Household rubbish, building materials and other waste have been dumped in bushland near Bendigo. Source: Supplied
Illegal rubbish ranges from toys to building waste
Dave has seen piles of dumped rubbish, including children’s toys, household goods, garden waste, and building rubble.
“It’s mixed rubbish… there’s a bit of everything,” he said.
“I even noticed yucca, green yucca cuttings, and they take off and start growing in the bush.”
The semi-retiree also warned that dumped building materials could contain asbestos, posing a potential hazard to the surrounding bushland, flora and fauna.
Dave feels like the issue is only getting worse with tip fees being “very high” in the City of Greater Bendigo.
“I think it’s down to people not wanting to pay tip fees… they’re very high,” he said.
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Dave Henty-Wilson says he has discovered about a dozen illegal dumping sites while exploring the Bendigo region’s bushland this year. Source: Supplied
Greater Bendigo’s Eaglehawk Landfill currently charges $400 a tonne for domestic waste, with unsorted general waste costing $600 a tonne.
What’s the solution to stop illegal dumping?
Dave’s solution to end illegal dumping in the Aussie bushland is for the council to introduce cheaper tip fees, free tip vouchers through rates, annual hard-rubbish collection, CCTV near walking tracks, and warning signs.
“Even if they just issued one free tip ticket per annum with your rates notice… that would probably assist,” he added.
“There’s no hard rubbish collection in Bendigo. Now that would resolve a bit, too.”
Statewide issue with no end in sight
The issue extends beyond Bendigo, with illegal dumping continuing to plague communities across Victoria and the entire country, leaving councils with a multi-million-dollar clean-up bill.
In Melbourne’s west, the issue has become particularly severe, with a 1km stretch of road in Truganina effectively turned into an unwanted rubbish tip.
Neil Monsant and his partner are the only residents living near the mess on Mt Atkinson Road, 23km west of Melbourne’s CBD, and have called for urgent action.
The issue has also been highlighted across Melbourne’s rapidly expanding outer suburbs, with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) receiving 3,744 reports of illegal dumping in 2024-25, almost double the figure recorded two years earlier.
Melbourne rubbish removalist Josh, who runs Northern Rubbish Removals in the city’s north, told Yahoo News he had noticed the problem getting worse in recent years.
“There’s definitely a lot of illegal dumping,” he said.
“From Craigieburn to Mickleham all the way down through Wollert, Kalkallo, it’s just littered with illegal dumping,” he said.
Piles of unwanted waste are becoming a growing concern for locals exploring bushland and goldfields around Bendigo. Source: Supplied
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$21.5m put towards tackling illegal dumping
The Victorian EPA previously said illegal dumping costs communities millions of dollars each year, while the state government has committed $21.5 million to tackling the problem.
“Victorians are sick of these environmental criminals, and EPA Victoria is taking action to detect, catch and disrupt them, execute strong enforcement action and make them clean up their mess,” EPA Executive Director of Operations Rachel Gualano told Yahoo News.
Josh from Northern Rubbish Removal feels like illegal dumping is getting worse each year across Melbourne. Source: Supplied
Dave said the sight of rubbish continuing to pile up across the bushland was becoming increasingly frustrating.
“Rather than litter the bush, you hope people do the right thing because they don’t.”
Yahoo News has contacted the City of Greater Bendigo for comment.
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