are full of old
rubbish-tips
West Parklands, Adelaide, South Australia, Jan 1993.
Deep pits were extremely numerous and early extractraction of raw material earned council revenue. It quickly became evident that the operators were taking more than there agreed quota and non-sanctioned excavation came under the attention of Park Rangers employed by the city council.
These untidy holes in the ground enabled the 'City of Adelaide' to dispose of it's household waste quickly and with little cost to council.
Rubbish had been disposed of on the Adelaide parklands from the 1840s until as late as 1920. The ill placed West Terrace Cemetery took an enormous slice of parkland around 1840, and as we now know, quarries worked for limestone adjoined the north and south side of the cemetery, became gigantic rubbish tips.
The largest of the two was located on the south side near the Bay Road and was used for household waste and night cart disposal.
The Register newspaper of January 7, 1850, featured an editorial with regard to the appaling state of this tip site. The City Commissioners had designated this locality as a place to dispose of dry rubbish and stable manure. However, the newspaper went on to report that the site had become utterly intolerable due to the dumping of animal refuse such as dead dogs, cats, horses, ox-skulls. The editor went on to say that surely the immediate proximity of the Cemetery should suggest that the tip be frequently covered in earth. Other reports later note that rubbish was being buried in wide trenches and filled after each day of tipping.
The large tip adjoining the Keswick Railway Station, Bay Road and Cemetery boundary, in places would exceed 12 feet in depth and would cover an area of around 5 acres.
Much to the dismay of the Adelaide City Council this site was discovered by bottle collectors around 1980 and was continuously, and illegally dug at night for around 17 years.
After having successfully removed land-fill from the tip located on the north side of the cemetery in 1993, the Adelaide Historical Bottle Club approached the City Council for the legal opportunity to remove the remaining larger tip.
Permission was initally granted to the A.H.B.C. to remove the tip in 1998.
However, before arrangements were in place, the permission was revoked. Council contractors trucked in enormous amounts of soil and capped the land with a mound of extra soil 5 feet deep.
Illegal digging has ceased, and this very substantial tip dating from 1850 to 1905 remains 90% intact.
This tip is just one of more than 10-20 sites known to exist.