Mareeba at tipping point over charges

MAREEBA residents are reporting illegal rubbish dumping has started after council upped its waste transfer station charges – and there has been fierce public backlash ever since.

Mareeba Shire Mayor Angela Toppin was prompted to defend the new charges in a video, saying waste now had to be transported to Springmount after the last cell at the transfer station became full.

The council scrapped the one free load of 100kg per month.

Cr Toppin said the $176 property waste management charge levied on ratepayers was for the cost of operating and managing transfer stations and landfills and did not include the cost of waste disposal itself.

She said the $310 fee was for the weekly wheelie bin service and residents who didn’t receive the service weren’t charged.

The cost per tonne to dispose of domestic waste at the transfer station has not changed, it remains at $90/ tonne and a trailer load at $16.50.

For residents to bring domestic waste to the transfer station, the cost is $5 for a 60L bag, $16.50 for a ute or van or trailer load, and $22 for a ute and trailer.

It is $9 per tonne for domestic green waste, $35 per tonne for commercial green waste and $30 per mattress.

But locals have vented their fury on social media, saying there was already illegal dumping starting at Granite Creek, while a landowner said mattresses were being dumped at the creek on her farm.

“Mareeba council needs to have a long hard look at themselves, I am a ratepayer and pay a levy for rubbish, now I am being fleeced to keep my yard tidy and trees trimmed – then they have the audacity to sell the green waste back to people as mulch,” JD Hartwell said.

Mladen Bosnic said it was immoral to charge a tip fee for green waste.

“This council needs voting out, all they have done is imposed charges on the ratepayer,” said Antonio Dimaggio.

“People are dumping rubbish on the side of the road or putting rubbish in the bins around town because they don’t want to pay and there are limited days to access the dump.”

Resident Debbie Gostelow said “rubbish will be dumped all over the place”.

Some said Mareeba should never have accepted refuse from Cairns.

However, some residents said the charges were reasonable.

The council is creating a buy-back shop at its Vaughn St waste transfer station.

The Cairns buy-back shop at Portsmith has been a roaring success since it opened, with 1250 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill in the 2019-20 year.