People are ruining the Rutherford scenery by carelessly dumping their unwanted household goods.

But one must ask, what is the reason that residents are resorting to this option to discard their rubbish?

Each household is given just one free voucher to use the Mt Vincent waste facility each year.

To dispose of anything beyond this comes with a price - $27.50 to dump a mattress, $4 a car tyre, $194 per tonne of vegetation, prunings of timber, $315 per tonne of mixed municipal waste.

This may not seem like much, but clearly a number of residents would rather get rid of their rubbish for free, even if it means doing it illegally.

The waste facility is also located in East Maitland, which is up to a 45 minute drive for the residents on the western side of town.

Residents have long called for a kerbside pickup.

Comments poured in on The Maitland Mercury Facebook page urging council to implement the service.

“Definitely need Kerbside pickup. The illegal dumping would dramatically reduce if we were to get a pickup each quarter,” one said.

“Yes please!! How can you take rubbish to the tip if you don't have a trailer or a ute?” Another added.

In a poll conducted by The Mercury, 90 per cent of the 425 people surveyed said they wanted kerbside pickup in Maitland.

Surely if people were willing to take their rubbish out of their house and transport it to Anambah Road, they would be able to drag it outside to the kerb for it to be picked up.

While Maitland City council has plans to implement measures to combat illegal dumping with a $68,000 grant from the NSW government, wouldn’t it be better to prevent the problem rather than catch the offenders?

Plus resident Lyndon Everett (pictured) said as soon as the community cleans up the rubbish, the dumping starts up again.

People have also argued that roadside pickup makes the roads look terrible while the rubbish sits out on the kerb.

But it’s also a disgraceful sight to drive along a picturesque country road and see it littered with illegally-dumped garbage.

Council should implement a kerbside pickup because it is what the people want. Yes it will come with an increase in rates, but it is worth it to keep Maitland beautiful.