The state government confirmed it has no ‘immediate’ plans to remove rubbish dumped on state-managed roads across Melton in response to a council letter.
As reported by Star Weekly, at the June 23 council meeting, councillor Bob Turner called on the council to note the “ongoing and increasing community concerns and amenity impact of illegally dumped rubbish on roadsides of Victorian Government-managed roads” in Melton, and significant delays in the rubbish being removed from roadsides by the state.
It also called for the council to write to Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne to outline these concerns and request that the state prioritises funding for the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to ensure timely removal of illegally dumped rubbish on these roads in Melton.
“We have our own trouble within the [Melton municipality] cleaning up rubbish, but a lot of the major roads are run by VicRoads or the Department of Transport,” Cr Turner said.
In a response to this letter, Melton council received a response from Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne, tabled at the August 25 council meeting, which said that works are not currently planned to remove the rubbish immediately “as it does not pose a risk to road users”.
“As there are many road maintenance demands at any time, work that has the greatest impact on improving public safety is given the highest priority,” Ms Horne wrote.
“Rubbish causing obstruction is dealt with immediately. Rubbish that does not impact road safety is scheduled for removal in line with our strategic prioritisation system.”
Ms Horne said that the Department of Transport and Planning also works closely with the Environment and Protection Authority Victoria on initiatives aimed at litter prevention and reduction.
