Back in the good old days – before Covid swept the country and government officials went wild for hand sanitiser, nasal swabs and social distancing – Noosa Shire had a much valued annual kerbside ‘hard rubbish’ collection.
On their designated week, residents would eagerly make neat piles of unwanted items on the kerbside. From Pomona to Peregian, Castaways to Kin Kin, hard rubbish collection was a welcome benefit.
Paid for as part of rates, these collections provided a useful service for most and an essential service for some, especially people without vehicle, cash or physical ability to take these things to the tip.
A fun side-effect of outgoing kerbside stash were our delighted observations that an item, maybe more than one, had disappeared well before the Council truck came visiting. The clearest sign that what trash for some was treasure for another.
This felt good, almost a ‘pay-it-forward’ philosophy, as prams, bikes, furniture and even indescribable pieces of household equipment made their way to the next owner.
But here in 2024 there is no such collection. It was silently disappeared by Noosa Council five years ago.
A variety of reasons were offered to those who sought them. Expense, of course. Danger from sharp edges or toxic chemicals to collection staff. And the supposed risk to workers because back then the Covid virus was said to thrive on surfaces.
So the collection disappeared without compensation, so I presume much of the ‘hard rubbish’ stays at home. Certainly the treasure hunters are gone.
Musing on this last week, I decided to run an online survey to find out what residents would like to do about this issue.
So far 650 people have responded to the question, to which I provided three choices plus a write-in option. Here are the results:
• 37 percent – Bring back annual kerbside hard rubbish collections
• 29 percent -Issue two free tip vouchers to each ratepayer with the annual rates notice
• 3 percent – Happily take their own hard rubbish to the tip
• 31 percent – Chose the write-in option
Many people took advantage of the write-in space to share their ideas, with 13 percent saying that tip fees in general should be less expensive (echoing a common complaint across social media).
Other results included five percent wanting pensioners and people with a disability to receive free tip usage and four percent suggesting that each Shire town should have a small collection place for rubbish not easily disposed of (including batteries, soft plastics and toothpaste tubes).
That’s a wonderful assembly of ideas for a proactive Council. So I further investigated the most popular option, re-introducing the hard rubbish collection.
In 2019-20, the cost was $303,775, or $5.50 for each resident in 2024 dollars.
While not everybody would use the service, this is similar to other services Council provides that only some people use. For example, the subsidised holiday buses, dog poo bags at beach access points and free training courses for local businesses.
While the idea of reintroduction of the kerbside collection has been added to a future ‘Waste Strategy for 2023-2028’, we cannot be sure this will happen. Plenty of other plans mooted by our Council are never implemented.
With cost of living increases going through the roof and many people finding tip fees too costly, it seems an increase has occurred in dumped bulk rubbish in rural areas.
An annual kerbside collection would comprise just 1.7% of the total waste management budget of $18 million.
Given the downside of not reintroducing the service – senior citizens, disability pensioners and people doing it tough in meeting their household budgets and more freelance dumping in the bush – a decision to get it going again would be seem to be efficient, thoughtful, compassionate and thoroughly good policy.
Let’s raise our voices and get Noosa Council back to delivering a much appreciated service – the humble, treasured kerbside rubbish collection.
Leigh McCready is a Councillor candidate for the Noosa Council local government election in March.
