There are fears that a small pocket of rare grassland in Altona could suffocate under an avalanche of illegally dumped rubbish.
The 37-hectare pocket Burns Road Grassland in Altona is home to rare native grasses and flowers and endangered species such as the Striped Legless Lizard.
But increasingly it’s also home to old kitchens, mattresses, cardboard, concrete, artificial stone and all manner of other waste that Western Metropolitan MP David Ettershank believes is being dumped there on a commercial scale.
“Burns Road Grassland is the largest remaining patch of grassland on private land in Hobsons Bay and it’s being buried alive by rubbish – around 100 cubic – metres of trash has been dumped
there,” said Mr Ettershank, who believes illegal dumping began there in early 2015.
The Legalise Cannabis Party MP has teamed up with local conservation group, the Grassy Plains Network, to try and save the Burns Road site, which he said should be a tourist attraction not a free tip.
“Victoria’s grasslands should be as renowned and beautiful as the wildflowers that lure tourists to Western Australia, instead these rare volcanic grasslands are fast becoming a neglected
waste land,” Mr Ettershank said.
“Only 0.5 per cent of Victoria’s rare volcanic grasslands are left, so it’s tragic to see them eaten up by rubbish.”
Grassy Plains Network facilitator Adrian Marshall said while Hobsons Bay council owned the local roads, most of the site was private land and that Environment Protection Authority (EPA) needed to get involved, but had so far failed to respond.
“Hobsons Bay council just doesn’t have the resources to clear up this volume of rubbish and the Environment Protection Authority hasn’t responded to our appeals for a clean-up.”
In a statement, the EPA said it was working with Hobsons Bay council on the issue, but that it was largely not its responsibility.
“Where the offender cannot be identified, the responsibility for the clean up often falls to the owner or land manager, and in the case of the Burns Road grasslands at Altona that would involve Hobsons Bay City Council and other owners of land in the estate.”
A Hobsons Bay spokesperson indicated that councils needed more help to fix the problem.
“With limited support coming from other agencies, council are investigating options for the removal of rubbish from the site and the prevention of further dumping,” the spokesperson said.
