General News
7 August, 2024
Bin vandals terrorise Gil!
Local businesses have been terrorised by unknown assailants. Their target? Bins - and it’s been very messy.
For the past month, businesses along Miller Street and beyond have arrived to work with their bins searched through and overturned. It has become such a nuisance that many business owners have decided to lock their bins up at night, or even bring them inside the store for safekeeping.
So far, no suspects have been identified; nobody knows whether a single person is responsible, a group, or even multiple independents.
“[We] don’t know if it’s young fellas or people looking for food,” said Leesa from the Old Windmill Bakery. “Sometimes [the bins] are a mess and we find bread still in the bin, other times our rubbish is left neatly but all the bread is gone. We just can’t pick it unless there’s [multiple] people doing it.” Leesa has said getting her bins raided is a “regular thing,” happening at least twice a week.
Of all businesses, The Old Windmill Bakery and Koda Café reported the most frequent raidings, lending credence to the notion of people looking for food. Miller Street’s This ‘n’ That, The Blonde Space, and Tingles Beauty and Massage salon have all reported their bins overturned only once some time ago.
Recently, Vinnies Op Shop in Wamboin Street also found their bins overturned; both their waste bins and donation bins were found surrounded by their scattered contents.
Aside from locking bins up at night, nothing seems to perturb the bin bandits.
“[We’ve had people] jumping the fence, opening the bins, just to dump the rubbish everywhere,” said Jo Buckland of Koda Café. “I think they’re looking for food, but I just can’t tell. I’m at the stage where I just don’t know what to do about this.”
