Community & Business
18 February, 2022
‘Unfair’ dump fees hurt remote towns
CHILLAGOE and Irvinebank residents have hit out at what they believe are unfair charges to dump rubbish at Mareeba Shire Council transfer stations.
People living in Irvinebank and Chillagoe do not have kerbside waste collection service, but they do pay a waste management levy of $176 a year in their rates notices to fund the operation and management of the shire’s transfer stations.
Chillagoe Alliance president Wendy Hay believes the levy is unjust, given residents must pay a fee each time they take their own rubbish to the transfer station.
New fees came into effect on 1 February which include $16.50 per car, ute or trailer, $22 for a ute and trailer, or $5 per 60-litre bag.
“It is costing us $16.50 every time you take a trailer load of rubbish there or $5 for each 60-litre bag of rubbish – that adds up over a year,” Ms Hay said.
Residents with a kerbside collection pay $310 a year for that service which includes the removal of a 240lt wheelie bin. If residents from Chillagoe or Irvinebank sought to dump the same weight in rubbish every week, this would equate to $858 over 12 months.
“It is understood and expected that we will be charged a fee but to be charged effectively triple is just not on,” Ms Hay said.
“This is not fair on communities where we have a large proportion of aged, indigenous or low-income earners.”
“Whatever the Mareeba Shire hopes to achieve by ‘double-dipping’ on waste fees, it is bound to lead to financial, mental and emotional distress not to mention frustration and disenchantment to many of the Shire’s residents.”
Ms Hay thinks people will opt to illegally dump their rubbish rather than pay the fees.
“These extra charges will mean that rubbish will be scattered throughout our community bringing vermin and wild animals, especially feral dogs and pigs, within reach of the most vulnerable members of the community, namely the aged and our children,” she said.
“Council will have to spend more money cleaning up communities than the new fees will provide them. Without a doubt, council will raise the waste management levy and transfer station fees to cover their costs. This is a no-win situation for all.”
Ms Hay said people were already dumping household waste at the local primary school which has a drop-off point for recyclables only.
“My greatest concern and that of parents whose children attend the school is that household waste will be dumped there for the school to dispose of,” she said.
Ms Hay’s views were echoed by many on social media last week.
“We don't get given wheelie bins, nor do we get our rubbish taken to the dump – we pay on our rates twice a year dump levy fee. Our dump is only open for seven hours a week. I take this to be highway robbery. Have they thought about our pensioners? They can't afford this,” one Irvinebank resident wrote.
“People are already starting to dump illegally which will cost the council to clean up and take the off enders to court if they can be found. I wonder which would cost less, allowing the ratepayers to dump for free or try to chase the illegal dumpers?” another posted.
Mareeba Mayor Angela Toppin said the $176 waste management levy was required to fund the operation of the shire’s transfer stations and did not cover the cost of transporting the waste back to the Springmount Landfill for processing or transporting recyclables down to Cairns.
“We did look at kerbside collections for towns like Irvinebank and Chillagoe but it was financially unviable,” Cr Toppin said.
“Let’s be clear – council doesn’t make any money out of waste. There is a cost for the waste to be collected from the kerbside which is transported down to Cairns, and there is a cost for transporting the waste from the transfer stations to the Springmount Landfill, and the fees incurred there.”
She said the State Government’s waste levy was currently not charged for domestic waste but the time was coming and council must do everything in the interim to encourage people to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
“Composting waste like paper and food scraps and separating recyclables, which can be taken to the transfer station for free, can really make a difference to weekly waste volumes,” Cr Toppin said.
“We need to reduce our residential waste because the time is coming when it too will attract the State’s waste levy and that will mean those costs have to be passed onto our ratepayers.”
