Tonnes of illegal dumping an eye-sore at Nanima Reserve
FED up with the constant scourge of illegal dumping, Wiradjuri Wellington Aboriginal Town Common Aboriginal Corporation chair Anita Johnson is fighting to keep the 183 hectares of land adjacent to the Wellington tip free from tonnes of trash.
WWATCAC has owned the land at Nanima Reserve since the amalgamation of Dubbo and Wellington council in 2016.
“We have been plagued with constant illegally dumped rubbish from within our local community members,” she said.
“This is a sad but true reality; it creates health and environmental issues that place our Aboriginal Cultural awareness programs and those clients interested in obtaining access to this information provided by us, in jeopardy and places them at risk of danger and health problems.
“One of the main problems here seems to be the tip being adjacent to our property, another is the escalating tip fees that are being charged, as to offload even two mattresses is a costing of between $60 – $80.”
Some of the items being dumped on the land include mattresses, abandoned cars, general trash, fridges, housing material, and windows.
“My daughter and I took three loads to the dump when we were dealing with the first ranger who organised for the concrete barrier to go up,” Ms Johnson said.
“The main reason we haven’t got signs up is we’re unofficial. We applied for a grant under the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), however because we’re not already in partnership with the Local Aboriginal Lands council, we’re unable to apply for that grant.
“I have notified council of that and last year I was working with someone they brought up from the coast down Wollongong way. He was collecting data for council on illegal dumping and he found nine areas of dumping (despite) the barrier.”
Ms Johnson said there are a number of ways to deter people from dumping illegally, including council introducing a free day once a month to lower the dumping rate, or an overall decrease in tip fees.
“I have dealt with DRC rangers on at least 4 separate occasions they were helpful in placing a barrier at one dumping spot and removing rubbish from that area,” she said.
“However, since then, another 11 dumping areas have been used by our community members.
“As of December 2021, there were 5.5 tonnes of rubbish that still remains on our land and needs to be removed...it has since escalated to between 6-6.5 tonnes. It’s getting worse.
“I would like to remind our Wellington community members that at times it may well be your children that are involved in excursions to learn of the historically important information we provide, which in turn those dumping rubbish are placing these children and our workers at risk.
“Please do the right thing.”