Walpole Wilderness highway cleaner Michael Filby describes road as “open sewer” amid increased litter

A South West litter-free advocate has described a 100km stretch of the Walpole Wilderness highway as an “open sewer”. With an ambition to keep the scenic tourist highway clean, Michael Filby said he had maintained a “litter free” status on the highway on a weekly basis for 20 years as a volunteer and pensioner. But he said the litter condition would be worse if he was not consistently managing the roads, noticing an increase of rubbish and toilet paper on Highway Number 1 bisecting the Walpole Wilderness during holiday seasons and school holidays. Mr Filby counted more than 1000 discarded used toilet tissues along the road while picking up litter earlier this month. “There are no official toilet facilities made available to the travelling public in the 120km from Manjimup to Walpole,” he said. “The easiest and most effective solution is for Main Roads to employ one specialist staff to be solely responsible for the hygiene and litter prevention on this section of highway, bisecting a biodiversity hotspot and having unlimited tourist potential.” “(The State Government and Main Roads) have no idea of what’s going on or how successful something can be. Main Roads know how successful I am, but they can’t acknowledge it because if they do, it exposes themselves.” Cleaning up the highway for Mr Filby goes beyond picking up tissues and shattered bottles. He also clears rubber tires and unsecured loads left behind, alongside handing in registration plates to the police found on the side of the highway. Mr Filby said he had shared his concerns with the State Ministers for Transport, Tourism and Environment, and Main Roads over the past two years, with no resolution to employ people to clean the highway consistently. He said they had made it abundantly clear they had no intention of prioritising the hygiene of the major section of highway. A State Government spokesman said they support litter collection through the Keep Australia Council along the South Coast Highway either side of Walpole with the Adopt-A-Spot program. In addition to roadside signage, they said the WA Naturally Thanks You program directly targeted litter along regional roadsides, including the provision of litter management resources, and community awareness via social media. “The litter prevention in Western Australia is guided by the 2020-2025 Litter Prevention Strategy with the KABC running many programs to tackle litter,” the spokesperson said. The State Government highlighted additional community programs, including the Community Litter Grants, Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities, Outback Packs and WA Marine Debris Projects. “There is also the Litter Report Scheme under which registered reporters can report incidences of littering which are then investigated, and an infringement issued if appropriate,” the spokeperson said. Mr Filby acknowledged the current programs and says he already manages the whole highway through the Adopt-A-Spot program. He said his argument was for the State Government or Main Roads to employ someone with a hands-on approach in maintaining the “litter free” status he worked hard to achieve over two decades. With his 80th birthday coming up next year, Mr Filby said he couldn’t continue forever. “It has been proven it can be done, it has been done, it is possible”, Mr Filby said. “It’s time for Main Roads to step up.”