Musselroe green waste woes

• The old Musselroe Bay tip site, pictured clearing on left, has been used for green waste for more than two decades.

By Taylor Clyne
November 30, 2022

The Musselroe community is at loggerheads with Parks and Wildlife (PWS) following a change in operation of how green waste is dealt with in the town.

For more than twenty years residents have used the old Musselroe Bay tip site as a place to put their green waste with a local contactor donating his time to burn off and clear the cuttings sporadically throughout the year.

Mayor Greg Howard said Council leased the ground off the Crown while the tip was open, but it closed in the early 2000s and the lease ceased too.

“We capped the site and since then it has been used for green waste which was a great arrangement for the community and it was widely known that Parks used it to dump their green waste too,” he said.

Mayor Howard said periodically, local civil contractor Cliff Forward took his excavator to the site, pushed the waste into a heap and burnt it off, monitoring it until it was all gone.

“There has never been an issue in two decades, but Parks have advised they are no longer content with this arrangement.”

Options that are being put forward by Council include leasing the old tip site back from Crown and subletting it to the newly formed Musselroe Bay Community Group Inc. so the previous burn off arrangements can continue.

“When Council met with Parks they suggested it should be dumped on the fire station site which is nonsense as it’s so close to the town.

“In the current space its far enough out of town with no fire risk and it doesn’t matter if it smoulders for a few days as no people are affected.”

Chairman of the Musselroe Bay Community Group Inc. Cliff Forward said the current arrangement is the preference.

“The Musselroe Bay Community group has been working closely with PWS and the Dorset Coun-cil to secure the [existing] green waste site at Musselroe Bay.

“To the best of my knowledge this is still a work in progress, and we look forward to a successful conclusion in the near future,” he said.

In a statement from PWS they said the dumping of green waste in the Musselroe Bay Conservation Area is not permitted.

“The disposal of waste for Musselroe Bay residents, is a matter for the local Government Authority, being the Dorset Council.

“The PWS is prepared to work with Council to investigate other suitable sites in the local area,” the spokesperson said.

In a further statement after the newspaper sought clarification if the existing site was still on the table PWS said they have offered to investigate options for green waste in the local area, including retaining the existing site.

“[However] there is no current arrangement between the PWS and the Dorset Council regarding the disposal of waste.”

It’s understood that Rohan Willis is consulting with the Environmental Protection Agency to seek rights on what action can be taken moving forward.