By Louise Bettison, Joondalup-Wanneroo Times
LITTER on City of Joondalup and Stirling beaches has increased 16 per cent, with the worst cases in the City of Joondalup, according to a survey by three local environmental groups last month.
Beaumaris, Burns Beach, Hillarys and Mullaloo were “the worst” for litter in the annual survey of 100m of nine Marmion Marine Park beaches, run for the past 25 years.
“In the early surveys, the litter was mainly from commercial fishing activities, but now almost all is left by irresponsible beachgoers,” Friends of Marmion Marine Park member and survey convener Don Poynton said.
“It was particularly disturbing to see so much plastic, as thousands of marine mammals and birds die each year after ingesting or becoming entangled in it.”
Beldon resident Julie Young was one of several shocked by “disgraceful” amounts of rubbish carpeting Mullaloo beach and Tom Simpson Park, during the school holidays.
“If all this stuff gets into the ocean it will be disastrous and with summer coming, I expect it will only get worse,” she said.
Dome Café Mullaloo franchisee Arpi Simai said he started daily rubbish collections after several customers complained.
“Ninety per cent of the rubbish was left by teenagers, who disregard hygiene rules and don’t seem to care,” he said.
“We cleaned the lawns in front of us, but never thought about how much more rubbish might be on the beach itself.”
Mr Simai said he thought the City of Joondalup was “caught by surprise”, with few bins catering to the school holiday crowd because it was usually “cold and rainy” at that time.
The City delivered extra bins to its beaches, as for every summer, on October 19, raising the number at Mullaloo to 55.
Acting chief executive Mike Tidy claimed winter tidal and wind patterns barred access by cleaning contractors earlier.
He also said the City “hasn’t received an increase” in complaints about rubbish at Mullaloo, but encouraged people to act responsibly by disposing their litter in bins.