State forest trashed

Emily Rainbow-Nordern was four-wheel driving with mates on Sunday when they came across large items rubbish – including a couch and a refrigerator – scattered on a main road.

Only a short distance later the group came across another heap of rubbish, this time consisting of household waste.

‘‘Anything you can think of, it’s out there,’’ Miss Rainbow-Nordern said.

‘‘There were babies’ toys, furniture items, car motors – all in this one pile, it was just disgusting.’’

Strewn throughout the rubbish were letters, bank statements and prescriptions with the names and addresses of three people.

On Monday morning Miss Rainbow-Nordern notified police who were unable to respond to the offence, and suggested the issue be passed on to the local council, who were also contacted to no effect.

Forestry Tasmania was notified, but did not offer any immediate assistance.

Miss Rainbow-Nordern took the matter into her own hands by posting the putrid discovery on Facebook.

In just six hours the Facebook post received more than 1000 shares.

Miss Rainbow-Nordern said that despite receiving threats from those responsible, she was sticking by her decision to publicly name and shame them.

‘‘If everyone stands back and does nothing it’s not going to stop ... I don’t think people understand the damage that it’s doing,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s not only disgusting but it’s dangerous for animals out there – people just aren’t thinking about the bigger picture.’’

A Forestry Tasmania spokesman later said that illegal dumping of rubbish was an ongoing management issue for the organisation.

‘‘We will investigate the matter further at Hollybank,’’ the FT spokesman said.