Horsham Rural City Council closed in on the culprits involved in the illegal dumping of rubbish in the Wimmera River, after finding bills listing names and addresses in one of the bags.

Alan Frankham, of the council’s community safety unit, said workers pulled several rubbish bags from the waterway after they were thrown from the Riverside Road bridge, north-east of Horsham, some time in the past two weeks.

Inside the bags were a number of bills containing the names of people from a Creek Crescent address.

Mr Frankham called on Horsham residents to adopt his mantra to “take more rubbish than you bring in, everywhere you go”.

Unit co-ordinator Jeremy Dean said a joint investigation between the council and the Environment Protection Authority continued and the people identified in the bills would be spoken to across the coming days. 

“(Illegal dumping) is a concern for (the council),” Mr Dean said.

“We have a beautiful balance between an urban streetscape and the Wimmera River bushland on our doorstep. Dumping of rubbish affects the amenity of the area and also poses a serious safety and environmental health risk.” 

Mr Dean said the river was often a hotspot for dumping and offenders had targeted isolated areas with vehicle access.

“The financial cost of cleaning up the dumped rubbish ultimately falls on the ratepayer. The reporting of illegal dumping has increased, but this may be due to a heightened awareness of the issue and the ease of reporting through the likes of the EPA,” he said. 

Mr Dean said anyone with information, or CCTV footage of illegal rubbish dumping, could contact the council on 5382 9777.

The maximum penalty for illegal dumping of rubbish is more than $16,000 if the matter reaches court.