Bill Harney, whose property is near the Navarre Road, said a nearby reserve was filled with waste. 

He found a pile of tyres, chairs and other pieces of hard rubbish in the reserve, which was the "second worst" pile of dumped hard rubbish he has seen near the reserve.

His comments come after the Northern Grampians Shire Council was recommended not to subsidise the provision of free hard waste and green waste tip vouchers to residents because of the cost.

The council estimates it would cost $696,236 to supply all households in the area with a waste voucher for both streams, while costing an estimated $333,042 to supply pension holders.

But research conducted by the Environment Protection Authority’s illegal dumping team has found on average each council was paying about $76,000 a year.

“While these figures provide an average for councils across the state, given the low number of reports we get in regard to illegally dumped waste, the cost of hard rubbish removal and green waste vouchers far exceeds the costs associated with illegally dumped rubbish,” Northern Grampians Mayor Tony Driscoll said.

But Cr Driscoll said because the council shared responsibility with other agencies to remove illegally dumped waste, it was difficult to determine the exact amount the council spent on removing illegally dumped waste.

St Arnaud residents created a petition calling on the council to supply residents with a hard rubbish and green waste tip voucher.

Twenty per cent of the town’s residents signed the petition.

The council said it was unable to confirm whether it would subsidise hard waste and green waste removal or supply vouchers at this stage, because that would form part of its budget process.