Rubbish dumped illegally on critically endangered grasslands in Altona will be removed after funding for the clean up was allocated in Hobsons Bay council’s recent budget.
Council’s 2025-2026 annual budget, which was adopted late last month, included $650,000 for the removal of rubbish from the Burns Road grasslands in Altona, considered one of the largest pieces of native grassland in metropolitan Melbourne.
As reported in the Star Weekly in June, about 100 cubic metres of domestic and commercial rubbish had been dumped at the 37 hectare site since 2015, with local politicians and environmentalists demanding it be removed to protect the grasslands’ fragile ecosystem.
Among them was West Metro MP David Ettershank, who welcomed council’s budget commitment to the clean up.
“It is wonderful that Hobsons Bay Council is spending the money on the Burns Road grasslands, as it’s one of the best remnant areas of native grassland in Melbourne’s west,” said Mr Ettershank.
The Legalise Cannabis Party representative also thanked Dr Adrian Marshall from the Grassy Plains Network for campaigning for the Burns Road clean up and highlighting the value of native grasslands.
“Dr Marshall tells me Burns Road is the only place in Hobson’s Bay with a surviving population of the endangered striped legless lizards,” said Mr Ettershank.
Dr Marshall himself also thanked Hobsons Bay council for funding the clean up and said he hoped the Grass Plains Network would be invited to take part.
“The dumpers have driven into the grassland and left tracks, which is very destructive for the endangered fauna and flora that call Burns Road grasslands home,” Dr Marshall said.
“We have the expertise to help with the rehabilitation.“
Dr Marshall said the grasslands were dominated by kangaroo grass, an extremely rare species of grass, as well as a wide array of native flowers.
“It also has spiny rice flowers and early Nancys, a native lily that flowers in September – one of the first native flowers to come out in the spring season. Creamy candle flowers also grow there,” he said, adding that the native flowers could make the Burns Road grasslands a tourist destination, like grasslands in Western Australia.
