Voucher envy tips us over the edge

DEAR Charters Towers, I know jealousy isn’t a desirable trait, but the green-eyed monster has been well and truly triggered.

No, it’s not your charming, heritage, main street shopfronts, it’s something far more mundane.

Here’s a hint – if any Towers sporting teams are searching for an effective sledge against a Townsville side, just mutter “free tip vouchers”.

Yes, those larrikins at Charters Towers Council have decided to stir up old regional resentments by brazenly gifting residential property owners two waste vouchers with their half-yearly rates.

For young players new to town, once upon a time the twice-yearly receipt of a Townsville City Council rates notice brought financial angst, but was brilliantly countered with a muchappreciated sweetener.

Out came the scissors, to carefully cut out the free tip vouchers attached to the wretched rates that immediately lessened the shock of the largest bill the letterbox is likely to encounter.

These vouchers gave the owner multiple free entry to the local tip to dispose of the spoils of a spring clean, garden makeover, shed or garage reorganisation, house move or fridge cleanout; and were treated like rare and precious currency.

Muttered deals were made: “If you’ll take my load to the tip, I’ll give you TWO vouchers” or “if you’ll help me move this couch,

I’ve got a spare tip voucher’” and so on – illicit council currency and, boy, was it good.

This ritual also ensured a steady stream of tip traffic all year round; when you had enough rubbish worthy of a tip trip, you either loaded up your ute or borrowed one, and off you went.

This method also had its critics, namely renters whose landlords received vouchers for their property but didn’t pass them on to tenants, and fair enough.

Un-australian, that was.

But the glory years came to a grinding halt when our council decided that decades of calls for a hard rubbish collection would be answered, but at the expense of our beloved freebies.

One of the reasons cited was that the vouchers were included in council debt, and we didn’t use them all.

Huh?

So it wasn’t costing as much as anticipated and, to add insult to injury, two local dumps were closed, forcing residents to travel further.

To sweeten this sour deal, specified free-dumping weekends were introduced that resulted in a congested crawl, with cars snaking out on to the highway and drivers muttering about the “good old voucher days”.

Now, unsurprisingly, Townsville has an issue with illegal rubbish dumping.

The $2000 fine to deter offenders has seen the council raking in 50 grand in fines. Unsurprisingly, some people aren’t that keen or can’t afford to pay the $17.80 required to dump a ute-load of rubbish.

We’ve got a hard rubbish collection “by appointment”, but for anyone who’s put in a weekend of hard slog and wanted to get rid of the evidence pronto so they could sit back with a bevvie and enjoy the serenity, nothing beats a quick, council-funded tip trip.

So, Charters Towers; enjoy this rich, historic tradition, and treat those tickets like the gold nuggets they are.

We’ve been there, done that, just wish we’d got the T-shirt.

HERE’S A HINT – IF ANY TOWERS SPORTING TEAMS ARE SEARCHING FOR AN EFFECTIVE SLEDGE AGAINST A TOWNSVILLE SIDE, JUST MUTTER ‘FREE TIP VOUCHERS’.