Vanessa Street, Beverly Hills, has been treated for a long time as a dumping ground by people with no community conscience.
Old fridges, mattresses, tattered lounge furniture, broken televisions and other useless odds and sods have found their way to this badly lit, largely industrial area with little through traffic at night to deter people unloading junk from their utes.
But someone is now watching and hefty fines are on the way.
Hurstville Council is on the warpath with a $124,000 grant from the Environment Protection Authority,
The council has almost finished installing eight CCTV cameras in known hot spot sites for illegal dumping including Vanessa Street.
The cameras and signage will be followed up with a public awareness campaign and community workshops focusing on the correct disposal of waste materials.
A council spokeswoman said that illegal dumping was a criminal offence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (section 143); $2000 is the minimum fine.
‘‘The council takes illegal dumping seriously and those who illegally dump waste will be caught and will be held accountable for their actions,’’ she said.
The spokeswoman reminds would-be dumpers that the council has two clean up services a year for unwanted household items and has an electronic waste collection service at its works depot in Roberts Avenue, Mortdale.
The free service, which can be used 8am to noon, Saturday, is not open to the public on weekdays.
Materials accepted include televisions, computers, monitors, computer accessories, printers, scanners, faxes, DVD and VCR players, stereos, speakers, mobile phones and accessories, power tools, and kitchen and bathroom appliances.
A nearby resident who drives by Vanessa Street on most days said it was about time that something was done.
‘‘The area is an eyesore,’’ he said.
Details of the council’s waste services: 9330 6222 or hurstville.nsw.gov.au
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