By ANEEKA SIMONIS
AN EMPTY Pakenham street, which was recently involved in a series of suspicious fires, has become an illegal dumping ground to the distaste of residents.
Old couches, petrol bottles, broken glass, construction material and liquor bottles are just some of the waste dumped on Gold Street and Solid Street in Pakenham which is surrounded by overgrown and dried out grassland.
A Pakenham resident of 63 years said she spotted four cars, one with a trailer full of waste, in the deserted street over the weekend, making them likely culprits of the growing, unsightly squalor.
“It’s careless and horrible,” the disgusted resident said as she described the heaped wasteland that is blowing down on to surrounding streets.
Acting Detecting Senior Sergeant Duane McDonald said Solid Street was targeted in a series of suspicious fires lit within three hours of each other late last month.
One of the dumped couches, surrounded by long dried out grass, was set alight about 2.40am on Tuesday 27 January. This is being treated as suspicious by police who are investigating two other fires that broke out nearby on either side of the incident.
The long-term resident who reported the mess to police on Sunday 1 February said her greatest fear revolved around residents’ safety.
“Some of the rubbish was charred. You could see there was a fire. There’s a lot of long grass around the area so what concerns me most is the fire. It could easily have gotten out of control,” the woman said.
Acting Sergeant Tom Brown said he had personally attended the site which often attracted trikers racing down the traffic-free hill.
“Initially, it was a prime location for people who wanted to rendezvous and an ideal location for trafficking or using illegal substances. Not many are going up there anymore,” he said.
“We see a lot of kids on big wheel bikes come down the hill and know there’s a lot of rubbish up there but it isn’t a targeted patrol area.”
Jenna, a Pakenham resident of 10 years, said the waste was unsightly and disappointing as she passed it on an afternoon stroll yesterday.
“It’s disgusting. People just dump rubbish wherever they can,” she said citing the same problem along Deep Creek Road in Pakenham.
Other items dumped on the street include children’s toys, televisions, mulch, timber, cardboard, bricks, cement, clothing and shoes.
Cardinia Shire Council said the illegal dumping ground, which was reported to them earlier this week, was under investigation by officers who would take appropriate action.
“As well as unsightly and potentially hazardous, illegal dumping is an ongoing and costly problem in Cardinia Shire and local government areas around Victoria. The rubbish is expensive to remove and difficult to budget for,” spokesperson Paul Dunlop said.
Council said those caught illegally dumping were at risk of prosecution.
