Kerbside dumping raises risk

IT COULD be more than three weeks before the rubbish dumped on one Kirwan street is collected and apart from the eyesore, residents are concerned about the potential of hard rubbish mixed with general waste to attract vermin.

Townsville City Council’s $ 2.5 million hard rubbish collection scheme was clearly something the public wanted and the council is delivering on its promise to make it happen.

The council has already come under fire for taking too long to roll the scheme out to the suburbs.

The council has told ratepayers the collections, which started on January 29, will be staged from suburb to suburb. Indicative dates are on the council website.

However, it appears some eager residents have jumped the gun.

Kirwan, in zone 3, is not due to receive the kerbside collection until at least February 26, meaning the rubbish could stay there for more than three weeks.

Some residents argue that the information given by the council on the kerbside collection program is confusing and it’s easy to see how one neighbour putting out his rubbish ahead of time could spark a chain reaction.

It’s up to council to get that message across more clearly.

However, reports of general waste being dumped among the hard waste is the fault of the user and it’s difficult to see how the local authority could have been clearer about the intent of this collection.

Something will need to be done ahead of the scheduled pick- up in this particular street to ease residents’ valid concerns.

However, authorities will find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. They will rightly be concerned that it sends the wrong message to other residents to dump willy- nilly and have the council pick up the mess on demand.

Additional information needs to be disseminated by the council and its councillors. However, members of the public need to use this service responsibly or risk losing it in the future.