Call for needle response

Busselton residents have raised the alarm about dirty needles and syringes being dumped in public places.

Mother of three Wendy Bartholomeusz said she had found used syringes and needles by the central bus stop where her children were picked up and dropped off from school.

“Probably a metre-and-a-half away from the bus stop, in the grass, I saw three dirty needles and three small bags and some other rubbish,” she said.

“It was definitely for drugs.”

Ms Bartholomeusz said she informed the City, but when she returned later in the day the items were still there, so she cleared them up herself.

“As a parent, I think it’s disgusting,” she said.

“The needles are bright orange in colour, so a child would probably pick it up.

“I’d be horrified if my child was pricked by a needle … It turns my stomach.”

Sterile syringes and needles can be obtained from a vending machine on the Busselton Hospital campus, from local pharmacies and from a WA Substance Users’ Association van which visits the hospital for an hour a week.

Safe disposal containers are also located on the Busselton Hospital campus.

City of Busselton chief executive Mike Archer said when City staff came across used needles and syringes, they were removed.

“City officers from the environmental health unit will remove needles and syringes at the request of members of the public,” he said.

“We have a process that includes using long-handled collection tongs and disposal into an authorised sharps container.”

Busselton fisherman Zac Racco wrote on social media how he had found “another dirty syringe” in the sand by the Dolphin Road boat ramp.

Laurie Richards wrote how she had “found syringes next to a footpath outside the primary school” and handed them into the hospital for disposal.

Mr Archer said it was important people notify the City when they came across needles and syringes, and not to “simply post comments on various social media sites”.

Busselton Senior Sergeant Steve Principe said police had recently received a report of two men using needles in a car near the Dolphin Road boat ramp, and had apprehended a couple of people.