Holiday-makers urged not to litter

YOUR loose fingers don’t just result in rubbish on the road side, but potentially in local waterways.

Motorists are being urged not to throw rubbish out windows as they drive to holiday destinations, and holidaymakers are being urged to either take their rubbish with them or dispose of it in appropriate bins.

With recent rains and flooding across the region, a call from Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace for motorists to help keep roadsides safe and litter-free in the holiday season has been ramped up to help protect water ways.

Rubbished dumped on the sides of roads, or even in recreational areas adjacent to water, has been washed into local waterways in recent weeks.

Gladstone Area Water Board chief executive officer Jim Grayson said it wasn’t just rubbish being washed downstream.

“There will be debris coming down as water rushes through areas that haven’t flowed for some time,” he said.

Mr Grayson said due to the increase in population in the region since the last dam spill in 1996, GAWB was expecting more rubbish to be washed into waterways.

Mr Wallace said litterbugs meant the state government was spending millions of dollars on roadside clean-up activities such as litter and debris pickup, sweeping, and mowing.

“This year alone we’re spending around $10 million to tackle the growing headache of keeping the roadside clean and our teams are spending an estimated 300,000 hours to do it,” he said.

Road users throw out an estimated 20,000 cubic metres of rubbish along our roadsides each year.

Gladstone Regional Council’s roadside/illegal dumping for Gladstone Waste Management Centre for the year to date was 7.22 tonnes, $938.60 in fees, or, converted to cubic metres, 72.2m3; while Benaraby was 0.72 tonnes ($51.84 in fees) or 7.2m3. This does not include the cost of clean-up/pick-up.

Mr Wallace said along the M1 from Logan to Tugun alone, more than 1500 cubic metres of rubbish was picked up last year.

“That’s enough rubbish to fill around 6000 standard wheelie bins,” he said.

“This year on the M1, our crews will be working more than 23,000 hours cleaning up everything from glass, plastic bottles, car parts, general waste and even furniture and white goods.

“Any litter or debris that is a safety concern for motorists or a threat to environmentally sensitive areas, such as creeks and waterways, is removed as a priority during roadside maintenance.”

Mr Wallace said littering was an offence and encouraged the community to report vehicle details of offenders to local police.

To report litter or debris that may be a hazard on the road network, phone the department’s hotline on 13 19 40. Trained staff will inspect the roadside and remove reported hazards as soon as possible.